Sartaj Singh
Created by Juana Uribe, ‘KLASS 95: The Power of Beauty’ follows Shaio Domínguez (Nicole Santamaria) as she starts a modeling agency alongside her cousin and sister to revolutionize the world of beauty in Colombia. Seeking to empower women in their lives, Shaio joins hands with Andrea Vanessa (Laura Barjum) to start the Klass 95 modeling agency. While their journey is framed by the glitz and glamor of the industry, they face personal challenges of love and betrayal at every turn.
As their agency is inaugurated, the cream of the crop of Bogotá is present, with all eyes lingering on the new players in the game. Their new venture is riddled with challenges from the beginning, and parallel business dealings threaten the budding modeling organization. Also known as ‘KLASS 95: El poder de la belleza,’ the Netflix Spanish-language series explores the shifting dynamics of models and beauty icons in 90’s Colombia, seemingly going beyond its premise of drama.
KLASS 95: The Power of Beauty is Inspired by the True Story of María Andrea Lara and Paola Turbay
‘KLASS 95: The Power of Beauty’ is written by Juana Uribe and spins a sensational tale inspired by the story of a real-life modeling agency and the women behind it. The character of Shaio Domínguez takes inspiration from Maria Andrea Lara, the CEO of Klass Connection, and Andrea Vanessa is loosely based on Paola Turbay Gómez, Miss Colombia 1991. Maria Lara and Paola Turbay knew each other since their high school days and had been good friends. Maria was the one who convinced Paola to sign up for the Miss Bogotá beauty pageant, which led to her becoming Miss Colombia in 1991.
When Paola competed in the 1992 Miss Universe, just as seen in the show, she placed as the runner-up. In the story of ‘KLASS 95: The Power of Beauty’ and in real life, this was the turning point for Maria. She is heavily disappointed by the result and makes up her mind to start a modeling agency of their own. The enterprising woman started Klass Models, which ended up representing some of the most prominent beauty icons in a time when Colombia faced violence and a drug war revolving around Pablo Escobar.
After the show premiered, Paola Turbay publicly stated that it retells the events of their lives perfectly and that she had been inspired by her best friend Maria Andrea to get into pageantry. However, most of the similarities to their real-life stories largely end after the first episode, and the rest of the series features fictional and dramatized storylines. Yet, it is true that Maria ended up making beauty an extremely lucrative business in the 1990s, geared towards benefiting the women participating in it more so than before, and went on to represent many future celebrities such as Carolina Gomez.
The Drug War Snatched the Miss Universe Title From Paola Turbay
Both Paola Turbay and Maria Andrea Lara hailed from the upper echelons of Colombian society, with Paola being related to Julio César Turbay Ayala, the 25th president of Colombia who served between 1978 and 1982. When Paola Turbay won Miss Bogota, her country was undergoing one of the worst social crises in its history, with rampant violence related to drug trafficking. 32 years later, Paola Turbay revealed the secret of what really happened at the Miss Universe competition in 1992.
Paola Turbay claims that she was going to be crowned Miss Universe, but the organizers came to her family and explained that it could not be done owing to the situation of violence in Colombia. According to Paola, they felt that if she were taken around the press circuit as Miss Universe, all the focus would be on questions regarding Pablo Escobar, drug trafficking, and the civil war-like situation in the country. She even said that she was subjected to psychological tests and interviews to determine if she could handle certain pressures and questions.
Ultimately, the title of Miss Universe went to Namibia, and Paola Turbay was the runner-up. Regardless, the people of Colombia were overjoyed and celebrated her achievement on a scale that astonished the returning Paola. However, her best friend, Maria Andrea, was upset at her rightful victory being snatched from her. Since she created Klass Models, both friends have continued to lead very successful lives and are now in their 50s. They contributed to the premise of Netflix’s ‘KLASS 95: The Power of Beauty,’ and were glad to see their story brought to life, albeit with plenty of fiction involved.
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