Nyong'o served as a presenter at the 76th annual awards show.
Lupita Nyong'o knows how to make a fashion statement!
The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever actress attended the 76th annual Tony Awards in a style slightly different than fans are used to seeing her in.
Nyong'o traded in her usual gown for something equally as glam -- a metallic breastplate. Pairing the bold look with a black suit jacket and pants, the 40-year-old film star was able to forgo a shirt thanks to the beautifully crafted piece. What's more, it was actually molded from her own body, making it the perfect fit.
The eye-catching piece was designed by Misha Japanwala. Nyong'o, who was one of the night's presenters, praised Japanwala in a series of images shared to her Instagram, in which she showed off the breastplate and explained the greater meaning behind the style statement.
"Honored, humbled, strengthened and energized to don this breastplate created by @MishaJapanwala, which she cast and molded of my body," Nyong'o captioned a carousel of photos that showed off her look. "Misha Japanwala is a Pakistani artist and fashion designer, whose work is rooted in the rejection and deconstruction of external shame attached to one's body. In her artistic process, she creates a realistic and true record of a person's body as an act of resistance and celebration, and an insistence on being allowed to exist freely in our bodies."
She continued, sharing a message from the designer herself, "[Japanwala], '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. 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.'
Nyong'o added, "Misha, thank you for this special opportunity to BE EXACTLY HERE, IN THIS BODY NOW."
The Kenyan-Mexican actress also made a statement with her hair, rocking a painted-on design over her newly shaved head.
Last month, Nyong’o covered head with henna to attend the opening of Monsoon Wedding Musical, which follows two Indian families as they come together for a wedding.
"It takes about 24 hours for the dye to really show up. And when it came in, in FULL CONTRAST the next day, I was simply MOVED. It was beautiful. It was bold and elegant; it had a point of view," she wrote of the process. "We had not played it safe, and it had paid off. And I had found a new way to express myself without hair!"
After explaining the meaning of the intricate henna design, Nyong'o ended her post with a message about beauty, telling her followers, "DARE YOURSELF TO SEEK OUT BEAUTY IN NEW WAYS."
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