I'm Miss USA's swimsuit designer – I don't get why people are outraged by bikini comps, our bodies should be celebrated | The Sun
MISS USA is still a highly controversial pageant, but this year's contestants will feel more comfortable in their skin than ever before.
At least that's the aim of Ema Koja – the official swimwear designer of this year's competition.
The founder of Ema Savahl Couture, she has designed skin-matching swimsuits to bring out each entrant's natural beauty.
"Miss USA gave us photos of each of the girls before we met them, so we were able to match their skin color with our base fabric," Ema exclusively told The U.S. Sun.
She is working with five different skin colors and various body types, across the 51 entrants.
Critics say the skimpy swimsuit competition is outdated, but Ema disagrees.
She said: "I can't understand the outrage. I find it ridiculous. Women's bodies are beautiful and majestic and should be celebrated.
"My designs are meant to enhance this beauty – why should we be ashamed and hide?
"These women care for their bodies like a vessel and it shows – and that includes mentally too.
"If they feel comfortable taking the reins and being in control of themselves, it's inspiring to other little girls.
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15"I want to help them feel as strong as possible and I've witnessed it firsthand in rehearsal. They morph into their own when they walk on that stage.
"I think the swimsuit competition is in many ways the essence of the whole pageant – at the end of the day it's about beauty and how you feel, and that should be celebrated."
Rather than being shamed, she thinks the women should be applauded for flaunting their figures in her fashions.
"They have worked hard to look good – and that makes them feel good. It has been a pleasure watching them get excited to wear my creations."
Ema is known for her butterfly designs, and made the creature, emblematic of metamorphosis and growth, the central theme of the bathing suits.
"I believe that we are in a new, beautiful era of humanity that is coming together. That was the message," said Ema.
"It is going to appear as if there is a butterfly coming right out of their skin."
In order to correctly craft her creations, she looked at each of the individual body types to come up with the artistry.
She then used silicone – which gets soft on the skin and becomes moldable – to create the shape of a butterfly wing opening.
While last year's collection was focused on glow-in-the-dark, three-dimensional designs, this year she has added a translucent element.
This will translate to the contestants shining bright – in more ways than one – as they will be literally catching the light when they take the stage.
"There will be capes with sleeves adorned with giant bows that are a continuation of the butterfly.
"They will look like butterflies on the runway and the texture of the fabric is super light so it will lift up as the girls walk. We're just very excited to see how it all comes together."
Born in Albania, Ema's background is more sporty than sexy.She left her hometown aged 20 to play competitive beach volleyball in Italy.
The athlete was picked by the brand Blue Marine to be a fitting model, her first foray into fashion, and now creates custom designs with prices starting at over $2,000.
Ema hurt her shoulder competing and took a year off to travel. Trips to New York and Miami convinced her to make the US her new home, but she needed a job.
She explained: "I always loved to draw and am a really good painter. I also grew up sewing plus had modeling experience, so used my background to get a visa."
Inspired by her time as a fitting model, she decided to create a product for women that was more comfortable.
Living in Miami, she was inspired by the colorful scenery and found herself creating a butterfly motif.
She recalls wearing one of her first designs back in 1997 in a nightclub in South Beach and encountering Ingrid Casares, a well-known businesswoman who had been waiting for her bestie- Madonna.
"Ingrid approached me and disbelievingly asked, 'what are you wearing'?'" recounts Ema.
She also remembers rollerblading to stores to sell her butterfly designs.
It wasn't long before celebrities started taking notice of the burgeoning new designer – including Paris Hilton.
"Paris wore one of my bareback tops with a giant butterfly that covered her chest, matched with a drawstring skirt. No-one had seen anything like it before."
She began incorporating handpainted flowers into her designs, that were worn once again by the Simple Life star – as well as J.LO, Sofia Vergara, Katy Perry, Roselyn Sanchez, and many others.
Ema explained: "I was painting in mesh and covering intimate parts with flowers to create a type of transparency. It was a new look, so this was really my next beginning."
She also brought her sell-out designs to a show in Las Vegas where she made $75,000.
"The brand Eden Crush wound up taking an interest in my designs and really launched my career," said Ema.
She also got to travel again – this time to Paris, London, Berlin, and Hong Kong Fashion Weeks – while spreading her butterfly wings.
Before long, she could be found worldwide in over 60 stores.
After going through a divorce, the mom of two opened showrooms in London and New York where she worked with celebrities on a regular basis.
Ema has now created over 70,000 pieces – with4,000 collectible pieces held in one of her current factories.
In addition to outfitting the Miss USA contestants, she is also helping to bring out the inner beauty of the Miss Teen USA picks who will each be wearing one of her 51 vintage pieces.
"The girls are wearing pieces that are older than they are.
"It's amazing to hear from them their perspective of wearing these older, custom pieces in their digital world."
Ema herself is deserving of the title Miss Swimsuit Designer Extraordinaire.
"Coming up with something that's never been seen before is my specialty. I don't feel like I really belong to the fashion industry – I'm much more of an artist."
Ema's designs are not just beautifully constructed but are also meant to enforce body positivity – a message that she also thinks resonates throughout the pageant.
"I come from the sports world, so for me, the body is a machine and a tool that we need to take care of and feed well.
"These girls work out and look healthy and beautiful and possess the most important thing – confidence. They're strong women and think we could all use more role models like them."
"It's not a competitive environment," she adds of the pageant.
Ema wants all women to learn to love themselves in bathing suits.
"I see little girls saying 'I don't like this or that,' but we all have beautiful parts, so it's all about focusing on those parts and making it the biggest part of you.
"If you have big hips, why don't you focus on the beauty of womanhood?
"I've realized that I have this gift in me to find these beautiful parts. I will work with any sort of body – that's when I'm in my element and things just flow."
With a hair and makeup team, dressers, and management, Ema, who just launched a bridal couture collection, says it takes a village to make a pageant come together.
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The hands-on designer is ready to sit back, relax, and watch her suits take center stage – though she is even more proud of the women who will be wearing them.
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