Former Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) housemate, Queen Mercy Atang, has revealed the story behind her viral bread dress at the 12th Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA).
It would be recalled that the mother of one donned a dress made from 500 loaves of bread to the event.
Speaking with the BBC, Queen noted that she did not make the dress herself, acknowledging Tianah Empire as the designer of the outfit. She said the fitting process took weeks.
The reality star disclosed that she wore the bread outfit as a form of subtle promotion for her business, a strategic move suggested by her stylist.
She added that she insisted on wearing the gown to the event, even after the red carpet had officially closed, because she did not want people to think the photos were AI-generated.
She admitted she did not expect the dress to go viral. She anticipated mixed reactions but was surprised when major news outlets covered it.
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“First of all, I was not the one who made the dress. Tianah Empire, the king of fashion, made it. It is just for me to get the clothes ready to put on,” she said.
“She asked me first to come and fit myself with the dress to look for places that need adjustments. It took weeks to get the dress ready.
“But for me, the weight of the dress almost broke my waist. If you check my back. If you check my back, I have a serious wound there. Because that bread was very heavy. I literally cried while wearing that dress. I first said I needed to catch my breath.
“The first few seconds after wearing the dress, I had to take it off and cried a lot. Then later, I told them I was ready to wear it again.”
“I did not plan on going for this year’s AMVCA before. I had put down some things I wanted to achieve for my business. AMVCA was not in my dictionary this year,” she continued.
“My designer later urged me to go, while I told her to do something simple for me to wear. But she told me I cannot dress simply for the event.
“I wanted to go to the event physically even after the red carpet had closed. I did not want to post the picture online alone, so people would not say it was AI-generated.
“I did not expect my dress to go viral like this. I expected people would have mixed feelings about it. But I noticed that major news outlets reported it.”
