Miss World 1986

Giselle Jeanne-Marie Laronde
TRINIDAD/TOBAGO

Giselle Laronde, a 23 year-old credit union employee from South Trinidad, won the pageant. She had hardly been noticed during the preliminaries, but made an impression on the judges at the finals. Her proud country later honored Laronde with four postage stamps. Miss USA, Halle Berry, shocked the audience and fellow contestants with her national costume, which was a skimpy flesh-colored body stocking, embroidered with ropes of beads and a few strategically placed stars. It was supposed to show "America's Advancement in Space." She admitted that she wanted "to catch the eye from the start." Halle was not only the first black Miss USA, but she has also become a talented actress, already awarded with a Golden Globe and an Emmy. MW 86's first runner-up, Denmark's Pia Rosenberg Larsen, was also first runner-up two months earlier in the Miss International pageant. The preliminaries for this pageant took place in Macau.