Lupita Nyong'o’s Silver Breastplate Almost Distracted from Her Henna Head Design

While this summer might be the season of sheer, Lupita Nyong'o is making a solid case for sculptural breastplates. The Black Panther star stepped out for the 2023 Tony Awards showing off her impressive fashion sense on the red carpet in an outfit that put forth a refreshingly sexy, modern take on the power suit. 

For the occasion, Lupita traded in her usual wardrobe of ethereal gowns for a sharp black tuxedo suit comprised of a velvet, form-fitting jacket (which she wore open to reveal the intricately detailed plate) with high-rise matching trousers. Rather than bare her skin, Lupita accessorized with a silver custom breastplate that was cast and molded to her body by a Pakistani artist and fashion designer, Misha Japanwala. She kept the silver theme going with a black and silver clutch, matching jewelry, and a chrome manicure.

Nyong'o shared a closer look at her coordinating glam on Instagram. "Honored, humbled, strengthened, and energized to don this breastplate created by @mishajapanwala, which she cast and molded of my body," she wrote alongside a carousel of photos of herself en route to the event that detailed her smoky eye, feathered lashes, and glossy red lip — her only pop of color. 

Bionic fashion aside, the actress donned an abstract henna design on her newly shaved head by Sabeen Marghoob, a self-taught henna artist (who also designed her stunning henna look for the opening night of a musical titled Monsoon Wedding last month).

Thanking the artists for the “shameless out-of-body experience,” she explained Japanwala's vision for her custom breastplate. “The word ‘beghairat’ (translation: shameless) has become an anchor in my practice; thousands of people have used it to describe me and the work I create, in an effort to insult and shame me into silence. In reclaiming the word and understanding that the rejection of others’ narrow definitions of shame is one of the most powerful tools for liberation, I’ve come to deeply appreciate and respect what living a life of shamelessness truly means," she wrote in her caption. "My craft pertains to documenting our existence in the most truthful way I possibly can — I change nothing about the body and how it looks. I think that act of surrendering and allowing our bodies to simply be, is such a beautiful and powerful thing.”