‘Layers of life’: The incredible story sewn into Miss World Uganda’s gown

As Miss World Uganda Trivia Elle Muhoza emerges on stage, your eye is instantly drawn to the striking ombre colour scheme and sparkles of her gown.

But the dress’ design isn’t just visually beautiful – it represents something much bigger.

The stunning gown, worn by Muhoza at the Miss World 2026 Top Model and World Designers Challenge in Vietnam last week, was inspired by childbirth – specifically the layers involved in a caesarean section delivery.

Designer Keesha Abdallah explained the concept behind her ‘Layers of Life’ dress on Instagram, saying the starting point was “simply a woman and the incredible layers of the body she carries within her”.

The KEESHA couturier, herself a new mum, had been collecting images related to childbirth during the ideation process and found herself particularly drawn to one.

It was a diagram of the seven surgical layers that are cut through during a C-section – skin, fat, fascia, muscle, peritoneum, uterus and amniotic sac – before a mother meets her baby.

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Each section in the diagram was a different colour, which then inspired the layers of tulle on Abdallah’s dress, incorporating shades of peach, red, burgundy, yellow, orange and pink.

The Ugandan designer said the finished product was a “celebration of the strength, beauty and miracle of a woman’s journey in bringing life into the world”, with each layer representing “a part of the body, a purpose and a story”.

The gown is clearly striking a chord, with women filling the comments section of posts on Abdallah’s Instagram account with praise and gratitude for her creation and the vision behind it.

“I am in awe of how you honoured the profound reality of childbirth, transforming the physical and emotional layers of the C-section journey into literal art,” one wrote.

“Every single hand-placed gem and hour of cutting and stitching reflects so much love and reverence for motherhood. Your talent is breathtaking.”

“What an incredible work of art!!! Thank you so much for creating this. We feel seen,” another said.

As the gown attracts more attention online, Abdallah has shared a statement on Instagram addressing discourse about the colour choices in the gown.

“When we began creating this gown, race or skin colour was never part of the conversation,” she said.

“Each colour and layer was chosen to represent a stage, a texture, or a transition within that story, not to represent a particular race.

“That is precisely why we called it ‘The Layers of Life’. Because life itself does not belong to one race, one country, or one colour. Life has no colour. Life is universal.”