You’ve Got To See Onyinyechi Basil’s Akwa Nwanyi Costume at Miss Universe 2025

There is a particular kind of magic that happens on the Miss Universe stage. It’s the moment when fabric, history, and imagination converge into something larger than costume, something closer to storytelling. Nigeria’s Onyinyechi Basil stepped into that moment in Bangkok, offering a vision rooted in memory, movement and quiet strength.

Her national costume, Akwa Nwanyi (The Frond of Womanhood), draws from the sacred palm tree revered across Igboland. It is a symbol that has carried generations through cycles of life, nourishment and renewal. When Basil walked out draped in raffia that traced every contour of her frame, it felt less like fashion and more like an ancestral echo. Coral beads added their familiar burst of colour, cowries shimmered with their long-standing femininity, and somewhere within the braided textures was the story of women who have shaped the land long before the runway lights found her.

The headpiece was impossible to ignore, stretching upward with an almost spiritual ambition, as if attempting to greet the sky on her behalf. Underfoot, a woven mat grounded the entire ensemble. It reminded the audience that before the glamour, before the cameras, there were women who planted, harvested and preserved. Earthy browns and deep greens carried the palette of home, softened by beads in rainbow tones that nodded to growth, abundance and the quiet resilience of Nigerian womanhood.

Nigeria stood proudly among several African nations that chose to honour their heritage through equally intricate creations. Angola, South Africa, Zimbabwe and others brought their own textures, symbols and identity cues to the stage. For a brief moment, the runway felt like a living museum of African imagination.

Credit: Instagram

This year’s Miss Universe brought together 130 contestants under the theme “The Power of Love”. At its heart, the theme calls for connection, empathy and narratives that matter. Basil’s interpretation fit seamlessly into that vision. It wasn’t simply about spectacle. It was about carrying a piece of home into a global conversation and inviting the world to take a closer look.