When dessert becomes couture: Halo-halo costume graces international pageant stage

Filipina beauty queen Jayvee Lyn Lorejo recently turned heads on the Miss Global 2026 stage in an intricately designed national costume inspired by the local shaved ice dessert halo-halo.

Designed by Ehrran Montoya, the gown’s silhouette takes the shape of the halo-halo glass, finished with dripping crystals that look like melting ice. 

Toppings such as sweetened beans and fruits are shown via the colorful embellishments, with the spotlight on ube, the purple yam which has become a global dessert sensation.

“We transformed this colorful Filipino classic into couture,” Montoya said in an Instagram post. 

“A little playful, a little extravagant, and unmistakably Filipino,” the designer added.

According to Montoya, the halo-halo gown was not his original plan for Lorejo’s national costume. 

He first created a design inspired by the rafflesia — but after seeing Katrina Llegado in a gumamela-inspired look for Miss Supranational (which she eventually won), he knew he had to “take a different creative direction.”

“And here we are, bringing one of the Philippines’ most beloved desserts to the global stage in a way that celebrates our culture through couture. Sometimes, a change in direction is exactly where the magic begins,” he said in a Facebook post.

Montoya said this was not the first time he translated halo-halo into a fashion statement. He previously created a look inspired by the dessert for Eva Le Queen, who represented the Philippines in “RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars.”

“Different stages, different stories, but the same love for Filipino creativity. Some ideas are simply meant to find their moment,” he said.