Eight young wahine from throughout New Zealand are getting ready to compete for the 2012 Miss Aotearoa pageant in September.
Pageant director Angela Cudd, who herself was crowned Miss Aotearoa in 2010, says the point of difference from mainstream pageants is that this one is based around Maori culture.
She makes that distinction to avoid some of the negative perceptions some people have of pageants.
Miss Cudd says that aversion usually arises when people worry that pageants are based on looks rather than more substantial things such as knowledge and culture.
This year's eight finalists have been confirmed as models for the 2012 Te Koanga Fashion Show, which will be held at the Hawke's Bay Opera House in Hastings as part of the National Maori Waiata Music Awards on 13 September.
Miss Aotearoa 2012 will be crowned in Napier on 15 September.
Applications closed at the end of June, with 50 young women entering.
