Beauty queen Lishalliny Kanaran arrived in Phuket, Thailand safely on Tuesday, November 16, hoping to earn Malaysia’s first golden crown at the Miss Grand International 2021.
Lishalliny who was crowned Miss Grand Malaysia 2021 in August this year is currently under fire for rejecting renowned Malaysian designer, Jimmy Couture’s evening gowns for her crowning at the very last minute.
24 year old architecture student Lishalliny is a no stranger to the pageant world as she previously finished top 5 in 2019 and 2020. They say third time is a charm and that definitely worked for the 175cm stunning beauty queen.
Designer Jimmy Couture had created two exquisite dresses for Lisha to be worn at the Miss Grand Malaysia 2021 pageant finals.
A crimson red dress meant to be worn during the preliminary round and an emerald green dress for the final round.
For local fashion designers, beauty pageants present an opportunity for their work to gain public exposure and recognition which could help elevate their career to the next level.
However, during a WhatsApp conversation with Couture’s team, Lisha’s team member had yet to confirm whether they would be including the red garment.
Later on, Couture found out that the emerald green dress had also been rejected with the reason it being ill-fitted in the bust area.
He indicated that all that the garment only needs a handful of quick small repairs to be completed.
Couture was upset when those minor faults was used as justification for Lisha’s team to reject the garments and choose another designer.
Jimmy Couture took to Instagram to express his displeasure while providing photographs and footage of the gowns that he had created.
“I have spent thousands in completing this dress and yet you want to wear this just to the press conference? Ridiculous! I’m sleepless, I wasted money and energy, rejected customers’ orders, my hands are swollen, I postponed visiting my parents, just to get your evening gown done and you won’t even wear it? Where did you (leave) your brains somewhere?” he wrote.
Lisha broke her silence on the matter recently, and went on Instagram live to explain her side of the story.
In the 21 minute video, Lisha claimed that she had made no contact with Couture as she has her own personal designer who she had worked with in previous events.
She added that the decision of rejecting the gowns was not hers alone but a consensus among her team.
She also maintained that the dresses couldn’t be worn as they were incomplete.
The next day Couture who seemed disappointed with Lisha’s response, said he is contemplating quitting Malaysia’s pageant industry.
“I will probably lend a hand to pageant queens who are actually sincere. But I will not support the industry anymore.” he added.
He also wanted an explanation on why a gown design was requested from him when Lisha already has a personal designer.
Despite the distractions, Lishalliny is keeping her head in the game as she posted pictures of her with a beautiful Kebaya inspired costume at the airport, all set for the preliminary and final round in Thailand.