We didn't think it was possible for Lupita Nyong'o to top her red Ralph Lauren cape dress at the Golden Globes. Then came the Miu Miu campaign. Then came the Oscar. And now comes the US Vogue cover. The Academy Award winning actress is on the cover of thenext issue of American* Vogue* - not only that, but she's the second African cover star in the magazine's history. Wowsers.
[Vogue Magazine]
The 12 Years A Slave actress travelled to Ksar Char-Bagh in Marrakech for her* Vogue* shoot, wearing the likes of Prada and Proenza Schouler to lounge in "an allée of date palms" and have a dip in a rose petal bath.
She was photographed by Mikael Jansson, with a gushing profile penned by Hamish Bowles who has officially come down with the Lupita bug. Forget conventional terms like "style icon," he describes her as a prewar debutante, a deity and a swanlike apparition. Sounds like someone has a girl crush - and who can blame Mr Bowles?
[Vogue Magazine]
In the interview Lupita talks about how she prepares for the red carpet explaining that she often has "epic six-hour fittings" with her stylist Micaele Erlanger. “It’s a job; it’s work, you know!” she explains. “We’d just try, try, try, try, try, try, try. At first it was very daunting, but I ended up really having fun with it.” She adds: "especially for the bigger awards, the dress let me know it was going to be worn. It’s quite scary when you fall in love with a dress, because it’s nothing to do with your brain. It’s like a gut reaction.” Well, if that gorgeous Ralph Lauren gown at the Oscarsis anything to go by, we'd say go with your gut.
[Vogue Magazine]
But it's not all instinct - she also does her research. For her first meeting with Micaele she came armed with a Pinterest board of ideas - think “Bold color, interesting print, interesting silhouette—simple but architectural and feminine.” On to find that Pinterest board...
So has she always been the best dressed kid on the block? Lupita said that she often created her own clothes when growing up in Kenya because "it was cheaper than buying retail." She explains how she created her own prom dress: “It was a velvet miniskirt with a matching little top and an iridescent silver translucent fabric that flowed to the ground. It was kind of ridiculous, but it was fabulous at the time.”
[Vogue Magazine]
In the Vogue shoot Lupita wears a copper Vera Wang Collection dress, a printed Proenza Schouler dress with rib-grazing cut outs and a Rodarte lace dress. Lupita also models swimwear, including a burnt orange Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci swimsuit and a raspberry ruched J.Crew costume. We're OB-sessed.