Lupita Nyong'o designed her own prom dress when she was growing up in Kenya.
The '12 Years A Slave' actress, who has landed her first US VOGUE cover, has always had a love of fashion and even created her own clothes when she was growing up in Kenya, including an outfit for her school leaver's night.
She said: "It was a velvet miniskirt with a matching little top and an iridescent silver translucent fabric that flowed to the ground," adding, "It was kind of ridiculous, but it was fabulous at the time."
The 31-year-old star has topped best dressed lists around the world after stepping onto the red carpet wearing a red caped dress worth about $7,000 at the Golden Globes earlier this year.
Her stylist Micaela Erlanger revealed she was stunned when Lupita first tried it on.
She told VOGUE: "We got goose bumps. I told her, 'This is going to be a game-changer.' And it was."
The stylist also revealed Lupita presented her with a Pinterest board of looks she loved and wanted to experiment with they first time they met.
Micaela said: "Bold color, interesting print, interesting silhouette - simple but architectural and feminine. Elegance, but with a sense of humor."
Lupita chipped in: "We'd just try, try, try, try, try, try, try. At first it was very daunting, but I ended up really having fun with it. It's quite scary when you fall in love with a dress, because it's nothing to do with your brain. It's like a gut reaction."
Meanwhile, the actress, who has been cast in the new 'Star Wars: Episode VII' movie, stars in Miu Miu's new ad campaign and landed her first major beauty ambassador role for Lancôme earlier this year.
She explained: "It's not about conforming to an already established idea of what is beautiful, and I like that."