How the Philippines became a ‘beauty pageant superpower’
- A handful of Philippine beauty boot camps that have helped transform the nation’s pageant fortunes
Rodgil Flores casts a stern taskmaster’s glance as grimacing young women in bikinis stride across one of the mirror-walled studios that is central to making the Philippines a beauty pageant juggernaut.
In 17cm stiletto heels, the students sway their hips between long slow strides, a brutal drill that Flores requires them to repeat in order to make the act of sashaying second nature come pageant time.
“For crown. For country”, is the slogan of the Kagandahang Flores (Flores Beauty) studio he set up in 1996, the first of a handful of Philippine beauty boot camps that have helped transform the nation’s pageant fortunes.
Both Gray and 2015 winner Pia Wurtzbach trained in the Philippines’ beauty studios before securing their wins.
Success in the pageant world can open doors to commercial, film, and modelling work.