Vietnamese contestant to don traditional cake-inspired costume at Miss Universe

The costume will have two main colors, green and violet. When she poses, circles symbolizing banh tet will appear on the back.

Duyen, who is from the Mekong Delta, said she would be excited to wear a costume inspired by food from her hometown.

The costume inspired by banh tet la cam. Photo courtesy of Unimedia

The costume will be finished soon. It was designed by Khoa Lo, who also designed a white ao dai with a 30-kg ‘cocoon’ inspired by the silkworm for the Vietnamese contestant at the 2020 Miss Universe.

Duyen wants to tell stories about her hometown to international audiences.

The 26-year-old is from Can Tho City and works as a model.

She said: "Banh tet is a regular at home during Tet (Lunar New Year Festival) and on regular days. People from my hometown, Can Tho, have added more colors to the traditional dish by combining salted egg yolk with la cam (violet tree leaves), making it beautiful."

In the last few years Vietnamese Miss Universe contestants have repeatedly surprised audiences with outfits inspired by traditional but mundane items like banh mi and ca phe sua da besides the silkworm cocoon.

The 70th Miss Universe final will be held in Israel on Dec. 12. The 10-day pageant will feature 77 contestants from various countries and territories.