She puts glamor into glamor.
The 80-year-old from a small farming village in Zambia has become an unlikely style icon by dressing up as her fashion-forward granddaughter.
margret [sic] Chola became famous on the internet because of her granddaughter. Diana KaumbaThe New York-based stylist began photographing her wearing glamorous ensembles.
“When I wear these clothes, I feel different, I feel fresh and alive,” said Chola, who lives in a village just 16 miles north of Zambia's capital, Lusaka. told the BBC. “I feel like I can conquer the world…I never knew I could make such an impact at my age.”
Chola doesn't know his actual age because he doesn't have a birth certificate, but he believes he is in his mid-80s. She currently has 119,000 followers Instagram handle @legendary_glamma.
The photos posted on the popular page range from Chola wearing various things to crown and sunglasses to Combination of turban and wavy skirt up to super long fake nailsblonde wig, and multiple gold chains.
Her posts also pay homage to life in Zambia, posing with an evende, a wooden stick used to beat millet, and a mbaura, a brazier made for cooking. It is depicted doing something.
Kaumba launched the account last year after visiting Zambia to mark the second anniversary of the death of her father, who inspired her fashion sense.
“I thought it would be a good idea to dress Mbuya in high fashion and photograph her in her natural habitat,” Kaumba explained to the magazine.
Chola proposed the idea to her grandmother, or “mbuya” in Bemba, and she agreed.
“I wasn't doing anything at the time, so I just said, 'Okay,' if that's what you want to do, let's do it — why not?” she told the outlet .
“You'll miss me when I die, and at least that way you'll remember me.”
The first photo the two shared, with Chola wearing a silver pantsuit, immediately attracted attention.
“When I first posted the photo, I was very nervous. I left my phone alone for 10 minutes, and in those 10 minutes it got 1,000 likes,” Kaumba said on the show.
“My mind was blown. The comments were flying in and people were asking for more.”
The page really took off in April, after featuring a red Adidas dress, multiple necklaces, and a cholla wearing a crown.
Chola, a mother of three, said her newfound fame has changed her outlook on life.
“I now wake up with purpose knowing that people all over the world want to see me,” she told the magazine.
