Cuban Designer Dresses Michelle Obama for Inauguration

Fashionistas were delighted when Michelle Obama unveiled her inauguration outfit - a sparkling golden dress and matching coat designed by Cuban-American designer Isabel Toledo.

According to Women's Wear Daily, usually hot on the latest in fashion, Mrs Obama had also chosen another Cuban-American designer, Narcisco Rodriguez, for the black and camel-coloured attire she wore on Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial.

Mrs Obama's straight and slinky dress, topped with a patterned diamante, collar-line, glittered in the winter light Tuesday as she embraced outgoing president George Bush and his wife, Laura, when she and husband, Barack Obama, arrived at the White House before the swearing-in ceremony.

She presented a gift to Mrs Bush before entering the White House with her husband who wore a black suit, white shirt and red tie.

The new first lady of the United States often wore Toledo's creations during the presidential campaign. Toledo launched her label about 20 years ago after having worked for fashion house Anne Klein.

Mrs Obama, 45, has already been named a fashion icon by magazine editors, fashion designers and a flurry of bloggers. Her fashion sense first took centre stage when she was photographed by Vogue magazine in autumn 2007.

She can also shift seamlessly between avant-garde designer labels, including Chicago designer Maria Pinto and New York designer Thakoon Panichgul, and mass market brands such as H&M, J Crew and Gap.

During the train ride the Obamas took from Philadelphia to Washington on Saturday, Mrs Obama's birthday, she wore a black coat by French fashion house Sonia Rykiel.

AFP
source