Miss World 2024 final: Yorkshire fashion designer Scott Henshall collaborates with fellow designer Eric Way on Miss England’s Swarovski studded dress inspired by Elsa from Frozen

Jessica Gagen, 27, from Skelmersdale, was the first red head to win Miss England last year in its 96-year history and has sailed through to the finals again after dazzling judges in a Mary Poppins-inspired dress.

She studied aerospace engineering at the University of Liverpool and is using her platform in the competition to champion women and girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and also works as a fashion model.

For the final on Saturday, March 9, Ms Gagen will be wearing a Henshall Way Couture original dress made by renowned fashion designers Scott Henshall, 48, from York, and Eric Way, 52, from South Africa.

Mr Henshall rose to fame when he designed a dress for former S Club 7 band member, Tina Barrett, at their film premiere in 2003 that caught international attention from the celebrity elite. The red Grecian-style dress with intricate gold chains around her hips was so iconic due to its risque look that it is still referenced today. He also designed the famous World’s Most Expensive Dress for Irish RnB singer Samantha Mumba at the Spider-Man 2 premiere in 2004.

Mr Way has also carved himself a successful career and rose to prominence when he designed the celebrated pink cocktail dress for Kristin Davis, who portrayed Charlotte on Sex and the City.

The two popular designers have come together to design a shimmering dress for Miss England at the Miss World 2024 final.

“Eric and I wanted to give Miss England a princess moment: Elsa from Frozen, but Elsa on Acid,” Mr Henshall told The Yorkshire Post.

“We wanted to create something dramatic that would float, sparkle and twinkle.

“Her red hair really pops against the white and all of the Swarovski crystals. We wanted to bring drama. Fingers crossed she’ll take the crown for Miss World.

“We’ve created this new label Henshall Way Couture. Eric’s been a judge of Miss World and Miss England before. When Miss England approached us to design the dress, I jumped at it.

“I always grew up watching Eurovision, the Oscars, Miss World when it was on the TV in the 80s and the 90s so as a youngster I started drawing pictures of people in fairytale dresses or evening gowns.”

Mr Henshall described how it felt to work on the dress and the process it took to design.

“We started more often than not these days over Zoom so that we could get a feeling of what [Jessica] was like as a person because you want to enhance the person rather than take them over,” he said.

“We sent various different sketches through, then we agreed on this one together. It’s been a labour of love, blood, sweat and tears, not too many tantrums from anybody over the past five months, lots of fittings to make sure it fits like a glove on the day.

“It’s been a really great experience and the first time that Eric and I have worked together for Henshall Way. It’s great working with another designer who’s very technical.

“We’re planning on doing more together and launching a range of dresses later on this year, this is a great way to launch our label on a big stage.”

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Mr Henshall said they wanted to show how Jessica was a strong woman and for her to feel confident in the dress.

“As a collaboration, we wanted to make her feel empowered for the pinnacle of the moment. She is tipped to be one of the winners, if not the top three, she’ll definitely be Miss Europe,” Mr Henshall said.

“We felt tremendous pressure to make sure it looked great and there’s even more pressure because we’re not there to get her in the dress.

“We’ve done video instructions for her team because it’s not the easiest of dresses to get into. We gave her a list of instructions, it’s like a Couture IKEA manual.”

Mr Henshall always had a passion for designing dresses and outfits since he was a child. He became the youngest designer to showcase a collection at London Fashion Week at the age of 21.

“My mum would always take me shopping, she had a great sense of style,” he said.

“As a young kid I would always see these competitions on TV like Blue Peter or Saturday morning programmes, I started entering them and I won them all. I liked a challenge and this idea of winning.

“I always knew I wanted to be a designer; it wasn’t something I chose to do, it was always in me.

“I made all of my dreams come true; I always touch wood because I’m very grateful and I don’t take anything for granted.”

Despite having travelled the world, Mr Henshall still believes North Yorkshire is the most beautiful place.

"I love it, my family is here; home is where the heart is,” he said.

“Wherever I’ve travelled in the world there’s nowhere more beautiful than North Yorkshire, whether that be Castle Howard, my favourite place in the world to go visit, whether that be York Minster and hello, who needs an excuse not to go to Betty’s? I’m obsessed with Betty’s.

“There’s lovely Harrogate that is nearby and then York, Robin Hood’s Bay and [I love] working with lots of other Yorkshire brands as well.

“I recently worked with Berties of Bay, which is a really cool brand that creates famous traditional techniques to make Whitby gansey jumpers based on traditional sea patterns that fishermen would wear. There’s nowhere better in the world in my opinion.”

Looking to the future, Mr Henshall, who has partnered with various brands including New-U Health and Highbourn, shared his plans going forward with Henshall Way Couture.

“We are going to be judges for the next Miss England as well, so it’s just the start of my working relationship with Miss England and Miss World,” he said.

“It’s the next chapter and it’s perfect after lockdown. I’m doing a range of sports casual wear with Eric as well as the dresses and also launching a new skincare line in the UK called MK13.”