Lupita Nyong’o: A Fashion Stylist’s Dream

The name Lupita Nyong’o, though hard to pronounce, is on everyone’s tongue during this red carpet season.  Nyong’o, who is featured in today’s Fashion and Style section of The New York Times, did not win the “best supporting actress” Golden Globe Award for her role in “12 Years A Slave” nine days ago.  However, she did win big that night on the red carpet, where she set it ablaze wearing a scarlet red column gown with cape by Ralph Lauren.

The gown was elegant, simple, classic and a stunner on Ms. Nyong’o, making her the winner on the red carpet over the woman who took home the Golden Globe—Jennifer Lawrence. The New York Times calls Ms. Nyong’o “the most traditional ingénue” and notes that she is being “lauded for her bold-hued style.”

Ironically, almost exactly a year ago, Jennifer Lawrence, than an ingénue, had scored a big win on the red carpet and took home her first Golden Globe, wearing an elegant, simple, classic red gown by Ralph Lauren.  She too was an ingénue, who stole the red carpet show.

“Nobody really knew who she was,” recalls Phillip Bloch, a veteran red carpet stylist.  “It was the simplest thing on the planet. I said to myself [when I saw the dress], ‘I would never have put her in that dress.’  But in the end that was magical. It had its moment.”

So often, he says, stylists try to find a dress that makes a loud statement for an actress who is not well known or highly visible, rather than letting the beauty and body of the woman do the talking.  “When it’s simple and chic, you don’t need a lot.” Bloch, currently serving as the Creative Style Director  for the women’s apparel division of the NFL, has sent many superstars down the red carpet, including Sandra Bullock, and Selma Hayek, Angela Basset, and Jada Pinkett.

How does a stylist decide which dress will be a winner on the “best dressed list” for an event? “Everybody’s got their own theory,” says Philip Bloch.  “But the right dress finds the right person at the right time.” In 2002 Bloch poured Halle Berry into a wine colored Elie Saab couture gown that rocked the red carpet world, with its strategically placed flowers on a see-through bodice.  “That dress had been around for quite a while—a couture piece from the summer collection. But nobody chose it.  Now its 10 years later and everybody knows that dress.  These are moments people remember.  That was Halle’s moment …  just destiny.”

Micaela Erlanger, stylist for Lupita and a self-proclaimed “vintage-a-holic,” in an interview last January with Harper’s Bazaar, shared some secrets about her stylist approach, which includes creating a collaborative effort with her clients, doing look book research, and digging through archives.  This approach may be what sets her apart from the pack and keeps her from being at the mercy of design houses.

Bloch, in an exclusive interview with www.fashionreverie.org/ at the beginning of January had predicted Lupita Nyong’o style ascent. “She’s been hitting it on red carpet,” he observed.  “She’s been looking so elegant. She’s the one to watch.”  He was right. “When your style is simple, chic and beautiful, you don’t need a lot.”  Lupita has been heating up the red carpet with magical fashion moments since the unofficial beginning of the season in December 2013 with the Gotham Independent Film Awards. And with each strut down the red carpet she amps up the excitement for the fashion “Super Bowl” of the season—The Oscars in March.  She will again compete with Jennifer Lawrence, who has been nominated for her supporting actress role in “American Hustle.”

Nyong’o, a native of Kenya, a Yale graduate, and now a cover girl, who graces the cover of “W” Magazine’s February 2014 issue, admits that her first few experiences on the red carpet were “scary” telling The New York Times, “I think everything in my life has prepared me for [playing the role of Patsey], “and then nothing has prepared me for the red carpet.”

—Francesca Simon