Who Is Misha Japanwala? Designer’s Statement-Making Breastplate Worn By Lupita Nyong'o

Actor Lupita Nyong'o attended the Tony Awards with a unique silver breastplate created by Pakistani fashion designer Misha Japanwala. The 40-year-old wore the breastplate beneath her black tuxedo jacket.

The actor described wearing the custom breastplate as a "shameless out-of-body" experience and praised the fashion designer.

Nyong'o wrote that Misha Japanwala's work is rooted in the rejection of the shame attached to a person's body. The actor added, "she creates a realistic and true record of a person's body as an act of resistance and celebration".

Lupita Nyong'o revealed that the breastplate was cast and moulded off her body. She thanked Japanwala for the special opportunity to "be exactly here, in this body now".

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Who Is Misha Japanwala?

• Pakistani artist and fashion designer Misha Japanwala is best known for her body casting and sculpting.
• She aims to create a historical record of marginalised bodies through her body castings and mouldings.
• Recently, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o wore her custom silver breastplate to the Tony Awards 2023.
• The actor described her work as the "rejection and deconstruction" of shame attached to the body. She said that she was "honoured" to wear the fashion designer's piece for the award show.
• Japanwala says that the word "beghairat" (shameless) is an "anchor" in her practice. She said that thousands of people have used it to describe her and her work in an effort to shame her.
• The fashion designer says that reclaiming the word was liberating and that she's come to "deeply appreciate and respect what living a life of shamelessness truly means".
• Japanwala's solo show Beghairati Ki Nishaani: Traces of Shamelessness is currently on display at the Hanna Traore Gallery.
• According to the gallery, The fashion designer and artist's collection is a record of activists and artists and Japanwala "preserves the stories of femme, queer, and trans lives in Pakistan".
• Misha Japanwala's work has been featured in Vogue and V Magazine.
• Japanwala had also designed breastplates for the American musician and rapper Lizzo for her music video Rumours.