Social media is a platform that has evolved over time into creating some of the biggest stars including Margaret Chola, known as @legendary_glamma. Ms. Chola is an elderly woman who is not only inspiring others to be who they want to be and is taking over online platforms and gaining success simply by being her glamorous self.
With her account managed by her granddaughter, NYC-based fashion stylist Diana “Dee” Kalezhi, the fabulous grandma has graced the covers of Bella Magazine, featured in articles with the BBC News, and even sat down with famed broadcast journalist and TV host Tamron Hall. Yet, her stardom truly began from an accidental picture.
“It’s just something that happened by accident. This is why I titled her first book, or even her page on top, I think you can notice that it says ‘Accidental Fashion Icon,’” Kalezhi says.
“Because this is something that I didn’t plan. This is just something that happened. I think I even have a video on my Instagram where, when we did the shoot in the [red] Adidas outfit, which is what blew up”
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Additionally, the shoot was to commemorate Ms. Kalezhi’s late father and her grandmother’s changing house, which was being renovated at the time.
“I did that shoot outside my unfinished villa in Zambia that used to also be my grandma’s house before she moved to the main house after my dad died four years ago,” Kalezhi said.
“And being that my grandma’s who lived in that house, I wanted it to be like them, to just connect the villa to this woman that lived in this house, to just the fashion and and everything.”
However, despite her growing prominence in culture, some in her village of Zambia were at first not on board with the idea of her celebrity status. Some simply couldn’t comprehend what was exactly going on, according to Ms. Kalezhi. However, she tells how Ms. Chola’s stays helped smooth things over.
“People in Zambia didn’t welcome grandma being dressed in high fashion. They just, they’re not there yet, so they condemned it. Like, ‘why don’t you just leave her, let her sleep. You are abusing her,’” she explained.
“But it’s now after she blew up like that, after we went on the Tamron Hall Show, that’s when they started knowing about it or accepting it.”
Her newfound fame has also given the grandmother many fans in her village.
“So my grandma is always sitting outside the grocery store, so people now recognize her because they’re just right by the roadside,” Kalezhi said.
“So, when people are going by, they’re like ‘wait, isn’t that the grandma? And everybody loves to go and take pictures with her and stuff like that.”
Also, thanks to her fashionable granddaughter, Ms. Chola has worn fashions from designers from near, far and sometimes even vintage pieces of her own. In fact, her presence online is so vast that some designers have even reached out to the dazzling grandma to model and showcase their clothes online.
“So, a female owned brand, based in the UK or Nigeria, if I’m not mistaken, reached out and she wanted to dress her. So, she had me pick from her website,” Kalezhi said.
“I had never heard of the brand through that time, and I was just like, Oh, my God, these are amazing. So that’s how I agreed to pick a few pieces and she had them sent.”
Kalezhi also is a jewelry designer with a line of her own, Jewelsbytvp. The line is designed to give stand out accessories that make the wearer memorable and fierce at the same time.
“Having the jewelry line is because my kind of styling is based off accessories. To me, accessories are an outfit, right? So, that outfit without accessories is dead,” she explained.
“So, I designed them in such a way that they just speak without you saying anything. And it always works.”
Though grateful for all the love and support, Ms. Chola is still in awe that many people around the world are not only inspired by her ritzy style but the admiration that many have for her as well.
“She can’t believe people love her for that, or just even love her,” noted Kalezhi. “Like, how can they love me? I mean, really?”
