Did Michelle Obama influence fashion more than Jackie Kennedy?
The list of first ladies known for their style is short, and Michelle Obama may have just topped it
The morning after Michelle Obama’s big speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2012, in which she argued passionately for a second term for her husband, designer Tracy Reese’s phone was ringing. And ringing.
Obama’s powerfully delivered speech had attracted much attention — but these phone calls were about her dress. A shimmering sleeveless sheath in rose and silvery grey, it was pretty universally considered a fashion slam dunk. And customers wanted it.
There was only one problem, Reese recalls: “We didn’t have inventory — we had made that dress custom.” And so the label went into production. “And people waited,” Reese says. “You know, so many people admire Obama and they want to dress like her. We sold quite a few of those dresses.” She estimates the number at over 2,000.
Reese, who hails from Detroit, is one of the first lady’s favoured designers — Obama has been photographed in her clothes some 20 to 30 times. But unlike some past first ladies who favoured one or two big-name designers, Obama has spread her fashion choices among a huge stable of them — often promoting lesser-known names, and taking care to promote American designers at such high-profile events as inaugurations, conventions and state dinners.
Which is why so many designers and industry watchers will miss her when she steps away from her post after eight fashion-conscious years, and why they consider her one of the most influential first ladies in fashion, perhaps even more so than Jacqueline Kennedy, because of her broad appeal.
“Michelle Obama embraced everyone,” says Andre Leon Talley, a fashion editor at Vogue magazine. “She embraced black designers, Asian designers, European designers ... She was very democratic in her choice of clothes.”
And that includes wearing fashion that ordinary women could potentially afford — like cardigans from the retailer J. Crew.
“She’s made an effort to wear accessible fashion,” Reese says. “I think Jackie (Kennedy) was a great role model but she wore a lot of couture, and things that most Americans could not afford.” Obama, she says, has worn both high-end and moderately priced fashion.