World renowned Filipino fashion designer, Michael Cinco responds to claims of sabotage.
Just when we thought that the Miss Universe saga has finally come to an end for this year, news broke out on May 22 that riled up Filipino pageant fans. Internationally renowned Filipino fashion designer Michael Cinco responded to a post made by MGmode Communications, the team behind Miss Universe Canada 2020 Nova Stevens.
Cinco shared in his Facebook the screenshots of MGmode’s now deleted Instagram post. Miss Canada’s team claimed in the said post that the gowns made by the designer were sent late and ill-fitting. This enraged the mostly calm and collected designer, who called false on the accusations.
The Claim
MGmode said, “The truth need[s] to be told. The gown was sent late by Michael’s team, and when it arrived none of them fitted! We were able to fix the one for the finals, but the one for prelims, we didn’t have time [for].”
It doesn’t end as they continued, “At the same time, they have time to custom made a gown for another delegate who checked in with her custom made Michael Cinco gown. Things don’t add up.” The team added that the incident also happened to the other candidates they handled at the Miss Universe 2019 pageant namely from Argentina and Uruguay.
Here’s the deleted Instagram post of MGMode:
Apparently, it was Cinco who asked the team to delete the post and not humiliate him in social media any further. He said tearfully that he deserves respect. Furthermore, he shared that he also messaged Miss Universe Canada 2020 Nova Stevens to defend him and clarify the issue. Despite this, Stevens sided with MGmode, saying that they were upset at Cinco because they believed in him. She said that Cinco’s team sabotage her.
For Cinco, what happened was unbelievable and he was justifiably upset. He shared, “My point is what is the purpose of this a week after Miss Universe? Trying to ruin my name instead of thanking for all the effort I’ve done.”
The Clapback
Michael defended himself saying that the gowns arrived on time and suited to Stevens’ measurements in a lengthy Facebook post. Photos were shared of Miss Canada wearing the said gowns, who was all smiles in behind-the-scenes content released online.
Cinco then went to share that the editorial shoot Stevens did in Dubai was arranged for and sponsored by him “to give her extra publicity mileage and create a balance of glam and luxury as opposed to her humble homecoming in Africa.”
Cinco also made a point when he shared that he sent dresses to other Miss Universe 2020 candidates namely, Miss Romania, Miss Czech Republic, and even to the crowned Miss Universe 2020, Andrea Meza from Mexico. Despite Miss Canada’s apparent lack of gratitude, those candidates sent him grateful messages. Cinco noted that Stevens and her team didn’t even gave him a thank you note.
Michael gets real
Cinco did not hold back in the latter part of the post. He said that they should stop blaming him for Stevens not making it to the Top 21 in Miss Universe. He continued, “In fact, she did not wear my gown to the prelims as you were earlier posting that she will wear another gown.”
Michael called Stevens and her team ungrateful. He further revealed that MGmode has not paid him for dressing their candidates the past three years.
Cinco called for the group to stop scamming Filipino designers: “Next time, don’t use Filipino designers, use designers from your country and represent them on the world stage so you will be happy and not think that we are sabotaging your candidates.”
See Michael Cinco’s full statement here.
Fellow fashion designers defended Michael
In the now deleted Facebook post, Filipino fashion designer, Jaggy Glarino, defended Michael Cinco. He shared that he and stylists Francis Chee and Vhee Co of Style It PH were approached by Cinco to create a custom piece for Stevens.
Glarino said that they were excited to be approached by “The Michael Cinco.” He even said that they were able to accomplish the piece in just two days. Glarino shared that it was not just the custom deconstructed suit, but they also prepared a matching custom pair of size 10 shoes from May Lee and a pair of custom earrings from Eric Manansala.
Glarino and his team encountered many difficulties in finding a way to send the outfit to US, good thing another local designer Bessie Besana was there to help. Through her, they were able to bring the look to Chicago (where Besana was heading) and they shipped it to Stevens’ team from there.
It was revealed that Glarino was ignored by Nova Stevens’ team after the outfit arrived in the US because they need to pick it up before the day of the interview happens. Glarino shared, “We’re caught in a recurring cycle of silence, getting short replies and again a day or two of silence.” It was a stressful situation for Jaggy because the day that the closed door interview was fast approaching.
Jaggy Continued, “I was already pissed around this time but M5 has always asked me to be very understanding and pray…I’ve never heard him speak ill of anyone from Nova’s team. We tried to be very patient as we also understand that this might be a very stressful time for her team as M5’s gowns was still on transit around this time.”
Unfortunately, the suit and accessories were not able to make it to Miss Universe Canada’s interview despite Jaggy’s efforts. For him, “It was a missed opportunity really, a waste of time, money and effort. A lesson learned the hard way,” the designer concludes.
Jaggy’s post was to prove that Michael Cinco has no plan for “sabotaging” Stevens. He called the claims as “self-inflicting” and “stupid.”
He continued on defending Michael with this message directed at Stevens and her team, “You cannot go around telling the universe that you adore him and think that his people was deliberately sabotaging you behind his watch.”
In situations like this, he said that “we can’t expect someone to just keep quiet and passive.”
Here’s a screenshot of Glarino’s now-deleted post:
Nova’s response to being “ungrateful”
On May 23, Sunday at around 6:30pm, Stevens took to social media to release a statement following Cinco’s post. Despite Miss Canada making her Instagram account private, several pageant fan pages were quick re-upload Stevens’ post.
In contrast to Cinco’s claims that Stevens was ungrateful, Miss Canada refuted that saying she expressed her gratitude publicly and privately. She said that working with Cinco is a highlight of her career as Miss Universe Canada. She admitted that what happened between Michael and her team really breaks her heart, “How can I not be thankful? It just boggles my mind that my gratitude will even be in question,” she said.
Stevens said on the post that she was hurt by the situation and she has nothing but love for both parties. “This really breaks my heart because I loved you both so much and you both helped me in many ways that I cannot even imagine,” she said.
She said she hopes both sides would stop fighting and she doesn’t want anyone to question the integrity of both sides because she stands behind all of them Stevens ended her video by asking people online to “not spread more negativity.” Cinco has yet to respond Stevens’ post while MGMode has not made a statement yet.
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