A 'Zozibini Tunzi doll' gets slammed for not accurately showing off our ex Miss Universe!
A Sri Lankan doll maker finds his inspiration in Zozibini Tunzi's Miss Universe outfit and creates an African doll that doesn't resemble her features.
Zozibini Tunzi, our very own longest-standing Miss Universe, left us with chills when she recently did her last walk as Miss Universe. Her words left us with a pride-filled set of goosebumps as she spoke with such eloquence, such pride, such spirit...
"Her exquisite monochromatic beaded black and white Xhosa-Inspired gown is a production of Biji Gibbs of Biji from La Maison de Couture who has designed all of Zozi’s show-stopping gowns", left us in awe as she glided through the stage in her queen-like walk...
Nigeshan Sivasundharam, a Sri Lankan doll maker, got inspiration from Zozi's beautifully crafted gown and made a doll of her. As much as the intention was good, the execution was not welcomed by fans.
Many of them came to the post saying that the doll looked nothing like her. The comments were warranted as much as the doll depicted an African woman with beautiful features. The features were not very much like our Zozibini...
Read more: Zozibini Tunzi claps back at Twitter troll
Nigeshan said: "I'm a huge fan of Zozibini Tunzi, this doll is a tribute to her. When I am making the dolls, I only consider the skin tone. I am not a canvas doll maker, I only dress up the dolls in costumes. I'm in Sri Lanka, so I don't have that much knowledge about the face structure of people in SA, I'm sorry,” (Times Live)
We can't say we are for the idea of getting an iconic woman's face 'wrong' (for the lack of a better word), but we can say that we appreciate his honesty and the fact that he is bringing diversity into the land of the dolls.
Image Courtesy of Instagram