The Miss World Kenya franchise has urged interested participants to register for the Mr and Miss World 2017 pageant ahead of the Sunday 23rd October 2016 deadline.

For the first time in the competition’s history, participants are invited to register online on the Miss World Kenya website for the prestigious Mr and Miss World Kenya crowns. The winners would not only showcase their personal talents, but also leverage their title to make a difference in the community. The title holders then go to represent the country in the Mr and Miss World global competition.

Miss World Kenya Franchise Director and Ashleys Kenya Chief Executive Officer Terry Mungai highlighted that the move to going digital would set the pace for the rest of the world to emulate, and called for more youth to participate in the competition, and more sponsors to support the pageant.

“The Mr and Miss World Kenya title is an ambassadorial position, in which we enable our youth to represent this great nation in the beauty contests. We are proud to have Mr Africa hailing from Kenya, and we would like to set the trend for the rest of the world in taking our search to the digital space,” said Terry.

She added, “Through the Miss World Kenya franchise, we encourage the youth to use their beauty to change the community. Kenya is one of the most favoured nations to have won in the Beauty with a Purpose category, breaking the record by winning twice in a short succession of time, which has attracted the Miss World investments to Kenya. We hope corporate organizations would consider this as a great opportunity to market themselves both locally and abroad.”

The competition has so far received endorsement from fashion house, MIMI Online Store, gaming platform mCHEZA which is managing the backend among other sponsors. Shortlisted candidates will showcase their talents in regional auditions scheduled to take place in November in various major towns across the country, with the finals slated for February 2017.

On her part, MIMI Holdings Limited Director Julie Gichuru also announced the opportunity for KENYA couture designs to be exclusively featured at this year’s Miss World global charity ball. Local designers who expressed interest have already put together the couture dresses to be strutted during the Miss World competition on 20th December in Washington DC.

So far designers who have been shortlisted include Elsie Gachacha, Grace Kihuga, Melodi Mazola, Iscah Tuzo, Wendy Awuor, Pamela Kariuki, Rinah Lilonde, Ann Githambo, Emily Warinda, Joy Trudy and Lina Comley.

“It is a great honour for KENYA to have been invited to dress the Miss World contestants, which creates an opportunity for us to develop a vibrant and sustainable fashion industry whilst also building Brand Kenya,” noted Julie.

The search for the next year’s Mr and Miss World Kenya is part of the country’s bid to host the Miss World competition in the near future. This will in turn attract international participation and inject billions into Kenya’s economy through the enhanced tourist numbers driven by the event.