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MANILA - Michelle Marquez Dee’s emerald green evening gown at the Miss Universe preliminaries was an ode to her family.

Her mother Melanie Marquez wore a green gown when she won Miss International in 1979 and her cousin Winwyn Marquez also wore an emerald green gown when she won at the Reina Hispanoamericana in 2017.

Mark Bumgarner, who designed Dee's gown, said they used over 30,000 green and black Swarovski crystals in 6 different sizes to embellish the gown for it to shimmer just like the skin of a green viper, a symbol of wisdom, power and transformation.

The color deep green is also associated with her autism awareness advocacy.

Dee's sleek walk was also dubbed by pageant fans as the “Snake Walk” or “Viper Walk” as she set fire on stage.

“Green was always on the table, ever since she won the MUPH, She put Green on the table as a homage to her mom and the color of her advocacy for autism awareness. Because her mom won in 1979 and her cousin Winwyn also won in a Green gown, it was really in the family,” Bumgarner said.

The color for Dee's gown, however, changed last minute from black to green.

“We technically didn’t finish the gown until the night she left, photo finish. The green gown was not the original color. That gown was originally black but at our fitting, we looked at each other and I said, I think this should be green because black was too safe. And green was always on the table because it was to honor her mom. Tigas lang ng ulo ko at first," Bumgarner added.

Bumgarner also shared how pressured he was creating Dee's evening gowns but thanked all the Miss Universe fans who sent him messages of support.

This is his first time making a gown for the Philippines for Miss Universe. He previously made a gown for Miss Universe Ecuador in 2018.

“Ngayon ko lang na-experience yung bayanihan, fans were sending me emails, mood boards, what we should do, giving advise, sending well researched power point, may back story pa ng inspiration. I was talking to her the other night, I get so kaba. Noon ang tagal ng pre-lims ngayon ang tagal ng finals," he said.

Bumgarner likewise said working with Dee is such a breeze because she knows what she wants and is very collaborative.

“Michelle made it so easy, she does not panic, she’s so calm and chill bakit ako lang ang kinakabahan. She’s the one calming me down pa.”

During the pre-pageant, Michelle also wore Bumgarner’s creations styled by Ryuji Shiomitsu.

“Most those pieces are pieces she wore in the pre-pageant are from my spring summer collection in LA, when we made this collection, we already had her in mind, we knew she will be needing a lot of clothes in El Salvador. She was our inspiration when we made the collection. But at the end of the day, the whole wardrobe it was Ryuji putting them together for her day to day events," Bumgarner said.

Hands down, Dee exceeded expectations during the preliminaries, Bumgarner added.

"She slayed it, I could not have asked for more. Whatever training she did, it worked. There was a wow factor, but it was not hard sell. Again, calm, cool and collected siya, sobrang swabe niya," he said.

As for what Dee will be wearing for the finals, Bumgarner said if fans liked Dee's emerald green gown, then they can expect her finals night gown to even be more “pasabog.”

“Whatever is coming out on Sunday, I don’t wanna spoil anything, it’s something we can be proud of talaga. Kinikilabutan ako just thinking about it, I don’t wanna give too much but in a nutshell, both gowns are inspired by two iconic Filipinas, let’s keep it at that. I don’t want to give color or silhouette, basta it’s really so her and her personality, the one on the finals is more Michelle. It’s super exciting," he said.