While hosting a Fashion Education workshop at the White House last week for fashion students, first lady Michelle Obama made some major fashion news of her own by sporting an Oscar de la Renta creation for the first time.
Sporting a floral embroidered silk cocktail dress from Oscar's Fall 2014 collection, Michelle, 50, completed the ensemble with some Jimmy Choo heels for a glitzy fete that evening.
The first lady's choice to don a gown by de la Renta is significant in light of the fact that the celebrated designer has previously had much to say about Michelle's fashion sense, not least her decision to wear a cardigan from J.Crew for a meeting with the Queen.
“American fashion right now is struggling,” Oscar told Women's Wear Daily. “I think I understand what [Obama and her advisers] are doing, but I don’t think that is the right message at this particular point….I don’t object to the fact that Mrs. Obama is wearing J. Crew to whatever because the diversity of America is what makes this country great. But there are a lot of great designers out there. I think it’s wrong to go in one direction only.”
Michelle is clearly taking those comments in stride, as she wore Oscar's dress in full view before notable fashion insiders like Anna Wintour and Zac Posen. The star-studded guest list also included some other industry heavy-hitters like Naomi Campbell, Diane Von Furstenberg, Jason Wu and Vera Wang.
The fashion-forward first lady has been known to champion less-heralded designers in the past, famously wearing designs by Jason Wu for both the 2009 and 2013 Inaugural Balls, decisions that vaulted the young designer into the big leagues.
True to this spirit, before turning up in the de la Renta design for the party, Michelle first showcased a new young designer by wearing a dress by Natalya Koval, a fashion student from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.