Dressing Lupita Nyong’o: A Designer’s Dream Come True

A year has passed since we profiled emerging Cameroonian designer, Kibonen Nfi, highlighting her achievements since recently graduating with an associate’s degree in fashion. But when we left our intrepid designer, she had just received the disappointing news that Lupita Nyong’o had unfortunately not selected her pieces to wear in an upcoming series of appearances. Kibonen had borrowed 5000 dollars to make the ten dresses.

Then her story, with its many ups and downs, its spells of homelessness and being ripped off to the tune of 250,000 dollars, went viral when she was approached coming out of the subway station at Times Square by Brandon Stanton from the popular Humans of New York blog. He featured Kibonen in a three-parter that even reached the attention of Blake Lively who tweeted, “Just read the story of@kibonen_ny --the designer of this rad jumpsuit-- on @humansofny . She's amazing and has a story to tell in her work and in her life. I love learning about hidden treasures!”

This perfect storm of celebrity endorsement and social media buzz is how modern success stories are written and indeed Kibonen was rewarded with such a slew of new orders that her website crashed. But throughout the ebb and flow of her fortunes, Kibonen kept her sights on only one goal: dressing Lupita Nyong’o. “You have to understand how much I loved this actress. I used to daydream about being her best friend. She was my inspiration. She was the model I used for all my sketches.” Kibonen cherished the hope that a future occasion would bring them together professionally.

A designer’s dream come true to dress Lupita Nyong’o

Kibonen’s patience and planning paid off. In her current press tour, Vogue’s October cover girl and Hollywood A-Lister, Nyong’o has been sporting multiple pieces from the designer’s collection as she promotes her new movie, Queen of Katwe. Only this week, on The Ellen Degeneres Show Nyong’o wore Kibonen’s signature wax print which is produced using traditional artisanal methods, and for Good Morning America” her “toghu” embellishment, a hand-weaving technique from Cameroon’s western highlands adorns the neckline of an Yves Klein blue neoprene body-hugging sheath. Kibonen’s mission has always been to merge the cosmopolitan chic of her adopted home of NYC with the often-overlooked wealth of craftsmanship in her native Cameroon.

“I want to create opportunities for people of color” says Nyong’o in an interview with Vogue this month. The two women are of a similar barrier-breaking mindset so perhaps it was inevitable they would seek each other out. Kibonen speaks of her mission as, “I hope the people can be inspired by the strides I am making and the stereotypes I am breaking and permit their children to pursue fashion as a career. I also hope I can raise the profile of my country in this industry.”

And she is well on her way: Kibonen has since raised money through crowd funding and other investing partners, to put together a fair trade garment manufacturing plant, Made In Camer, in Bamenda, Cameroon. “The goal for Made In Camer is to collaborate with the biggest fashion houses and garment manufacturers in need of an ethical sourcing throughout the world in order to continuously provide jobs for the workers as well as improve their lives, empower them and alleviate poverty,” she states, and aims to provide “a confluence of cultures” through craftsmanship and style.

All this, in just a little over a year since graduation. But I’m a a former professor of Kibonen’s and I saw daily her unique passion and drive. I’m reminded of when we first spoke of her interest in dressing Lupita Nying’o and her words then ring true now: “I feel like I spoke this into existence.”

Photos from Humans of New York Facebook page; Kibonenny.com and Kibonenny Facebook

By contributing guest editor Jackie Mallon, who is on the teaching faculty of several NYC fashion programmes and is the author of Silk for the Feed Dogs, a novel set in the international fashion industry.