Lupita Nyong’o had no concept of race until age 20, when she first arrived in the United States.

“As Africans, we don’t grow up with a racial identity,” she told Vogue’s Plum Sykes in the magazine’s October cover story. “We grow up with cultural and ethnic identity before racial identity. I never used the word black as a child. It was never a thing. When was I ever discussing black? Why?”

Yet Nyong’o’s presence on the 123-year-old publication’s cover is noteworthy. Hers is one of fewer than 35 covers to have featured a standalone black celebrity or model, reports the Huffington Post.

The flawless, Oscar-winning actress stunned on the October cover, channeling the sun in a metallic-gold Valentino Haute Couture dress.

She also discussed with Sykes her early fashion education in Nairobi, Kenya, recalling a “very eighties” miniskirt with suspenders she donned at age five.

“Presentation is extremely important in Kenya,” said the Mexican-born beauty. “You dress formally. You can’t just wear flip-flops.”

“My mother always had her own style,” Nyong’o continued. “She wore A-line, tea-length flowery dresses, very well fitting. Her nails were always perfectly done.”

These humble fashion lessons traveled with her to the U.S., where the “12 Years a Slave” actress now dazzles on red carpets in Dior and Prada.

“I didn’t know the power of couture until I tried on a couture dress,” she said. “It made me cry.”

Nyong’o stars in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens,” which premieres Dec. 18. In a video clip of Vogue’s “73 Questions,” during which she brandishes a red lightsaber and hula-hoops in heels, she revealed that she wore more than 168 CGI dots to film her role.

Her favorite Star Wars movie is “Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back,” she added.

The actress other projects queued for imminent release are chess drama “Queen of Katwe” and Jon Favreau’s adaptation of “The Jungle Book.”

The October issue of Vogue hits newsstands on Tuesday.

- NY Daily News