Every designer wants to make some bread in the monetary sense, but Toyin Lawani upended that presumption by creating a gown made of more than 500 loaves of bread for the reality star Queen Mary Atang to wear to last week’s Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards.
Videos and photos of Atang navigating the red carpet in the loaves-laden design were devoured on social media. Now Lawani, chief executive officer of Tiannahs Place Empire, is explaining how she managed to make the gown. A self-described “innovative designer,” the Lagos-based Lawani said she “creates pieces that have never been seen before.” She also is known for making garments that amp up awareness for brands.
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The original plan was to use 350 loaves of bread, but the team ran out of the carbs so quickly that 150 more were needed. Lawani said, “This dress was so last minute. We used foam as base and mixed flour, water and glue, and then added texture with paint. The surface was sealed with resin to keep the bread in place to maintain the realness of the bread.”
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As the owner of Switcakes Desserts, which recently added bread to its bakery menu, Atang’s selection aligned with Lawani’s design ethos. Lawani said, “I want people to look at you and know what you do without you speaking. Everyone now wears their brand on their body, due to my wear-your-business trend.”
However gimmicky or commercial that might seem, bread has surfaced in fashion and art in other unexpected ways through the years. From the late 19th through the mid-20th century, flour sack and feed sack dresses were common sewn-at-home staples in rural life in the U.S. and Canada. The 1912 “Bread and Roses Strike” involved thousands of mostly female textile workers in Lawrence, Mass., who fought for better wages and a better quality of life, hence the name.
More recently, Fendi showed baguette-shaped accessories on its menswear runway at Milan Fashion Week in 2023. Dauphinette’s Olivia Cheng served up bread-shaped purses earlier that year. And bread lovers can turn to Gohar for a $278 silk baguette bag with satin bows. Visitors to the Museum of Modern Art can see up close how Salvador Dalí used a baguette sculpture to crown the head of a woman in his “Retrospective Bust of a Woman.”
Striving for deconstructive art, Lawani said the aim was to have people approach Atang on the red carpet, remove some bread, “and scream her brand’s name ‘Switbread’ and leave. But the security guards weren’t having it. So to people the dress looked like an incomplete work of art and they didn’t get the concept,” she said.
Despite that, Atang and Lawani considered the endeavor to be a win-win for the night with the brand getting global attention. And Nigeria, as a whole, is also getting the recognition it needs “for its amazing creatives.”
But the design for Atang’s dress was driven by necessity. Lawani asked, “Do you know how hard it is to promote a new business in Nigeria and get everyone talking about it? It cost a lot. While the AMVCA had center stage, it was the best idea I had for her,” said Lawani, adding that her being a former “Big Brother Naija” housemate boosted the attention.
The most difficult part was getting Atang in the extremely heavy garment. Transporting it to the event was tricky too. The designer said, “Queen works so hard and goes all out for her brand. I really wanted to help her push her brand out there. I gave her the idea and she was sold. I executed it and it worked.”
Working in the art, fashion and entertainment sectors, Lawani has styled for the dancehall musician “Spice,” as well as cast members on “King of Boys” and the Netflix crime series “Shanty Town.” She said, “Nigeria is warming up to art being infused with fashion.” She said, “I used to set trends that they had never seen or experienced, but finally AI came along and a lot of people are finally embracing art. It just feels like the veil is finally off their faces. My love for fashion and the arts opens doors for me locally and internationally and I’m glad it’s taking center stage now.”
Somehow all of these ingredients seem like the makings of a story that an author at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference might cook up, but a media request to the Middlebury College-based operation was unreturned Tuesday.