73 posts tagged "Michelle Obama"
Buying Brooklyn: The Art Edition
For the style set that insists on local food, local booze, and locally sourced designs, here’s local art. The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) kicks off its eighth annual BAMart Silent Auction tomorrow, and honorary curator Beth Rudin DeWoody selected pieces made by artists either based in Brooklyn or who have previously collaborated with BAM. They include Nate Lowman, Richard Prince, and Terence Koh. Polaroid portraits of Dolly Parton, Keith Haring, and Bianca Jagger may go quickly, but we’re told that a few other artists’ works are set to be the big-ticket items here. Among them, a piece (pictured) by Mickalene Thomas (whose portrait of Michelle Obama was the first painting of the First Lady to be acquired by the National Portrait Gallery), an ink and graphite work by Matthew Ritchie, and an etching (Plate Distortion II) by Tauba Auerbach. The works are currently on display at the Dorothy W. Levitt Lobby of the Peter Jay Sharp Building at BAM and viewable online. The auction, supporting BAM initiatives, launches tomorrow on Paddle8.com and runs through April 22.
Kerry, Mila, And Rosario Top White House Correspondents Dinner’s Best-Dressed List
It wasn’t the political event of the weekend (that would involve Osama bin Laden), but the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was definitely the big #2 on the Washington scene. President Obama roasted Donald Trump, SNL‘s Seth Meyers roasted Obama, and Barry Diller proclaimed the evening “a ratfuck.” Success!
Honorable mention to the fashion, which, thanks to an influx of star power (and star stylists), was a highlight of the evening. Michelle Obama wore Fall ’08 Halston with Irit jewels, but the young actresses who flocked to the Hilton on Saturday went a touch more contemporary. Our favorites included Rosario Dawson, in scarlet Escada (above left); Mila Kunis in Versace (right); and Kerry Washington, in Marc Jacobs’ Chinoiserie collection for Louis Vuitton (center). Yours?
The Fall Campaign Countdown Begins, An Angel Heads For The Heavens, Koop Flies The Coop, And More…
Fashionologie begins compiling the Fall ’11 ad campaign rumors and placements. Word from the fashion forums is that Kate Moss won’t be in Vuitton (a group of younger girls, possibly including Daphne Groeneveld, left, and Fei Fei Sun, may be instead), Mert & Marcus’ ads for Versace might star Saskia de Brauw, and Ralph Lauren will likely tap Sui He, the Chinese model who was the first Asian girl to open his show, for his label’s spots. [Fashionologie]
From the Department of Unexpected Announcements: Doutzen Kroes is scheduled to be on the first commercial Dutch flight to space in 2014. [Dance4Life via Racked]
Is the FLOTUS without her stylist? Designer Peter Soronen, who has designed some dresses for Michelle Obama, suggested at a recent panel that Meredith Koop, who took over First Lady styling duties from Ikram Goldman, may already be out the door. [The Cut]
And congrats to Tess Giberson—the downtown designer has just opened her first shop, on Soho’s Crosby Street. [WWD]
MObama Flies (To) The Koop; Versace Gets Versus; Terry And Gaga, Together Again; And More…
The latest Beltway power struggle is taking shape—and this one’s got nothing to do with elected office. As has been rumored for months, Chicago boutique owner Ikram Goldman is no longer Michelle Obama’s “shopper in chief”—that duty now falls to her former assistant, Meredith Koop. [Washington Post]
Versus’ fortunes have been on the rise these past few seasons, thanks to the buzzy partnership of Donatella Versace and Christopher Kane (left). So take it as a vote of confidence that Versace has regained full control of the label from its former licensee—and another good reason to look forward to Sunday’s Fall show. [Vogue U.K.]
Go behind the scenes at Gaga’s Terry Richardson shoot for NY skate brand Supreme. Well, if you insist… [Racked]
Michelle Obama: The Model Years
Yesterday, over plates of halibut and pomegranate salad at Bergdorf Goodman’s BG, some of fashion’s most powerful women gathered in honor of perhaps the industry’s most hotly debated topic of late: Michelle Obama. Tod’s and Tina Brown hosted the icon-studded group, which included Iman, Veronica Webb, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, Tory Burch, and Michelle Obama favorites Isabel and Ruben Toledo and Sophie Théallet. The catalyst for the serene occasion (an ideal respite from the chaos taking place at NYFW outposts around the city) was the launch of Kate Betts’ book Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style.
While many might contend that the subject of the First Lady’s wardrobe has become its own “dead horse,” yesterday’s luncheon revealed that a few Michelle Obama style stones had been left unturned. For one, her effect on “big girls,” as The Daily Beast’s Tina Brown (left, with Betts) put it. “She’s made big girls comfortable. I love her unabashed big girl-ness. I like that about her: Her imperfections are what make her so appealing.” As for whether or not the First Lady should stick to American designers? “I think she should wear whatever the hell she likes.”
“I don’t think anyone has really looked at her style in the context of First Lady style,” Betts added. “We always compare her to Jackie, but I wanted to go all the way back to the beginning and see why style matters for first ladies. I also wanted to look at her style in a broader cultural context. And to look at why her style mattered to her in her trajectory from the South Side of Chicago, to Princeton, to Harvard, to a Chicago law firm, to the White House, and why her style became a sort of talisman for her—something that she held onto for herself in places that were places that were not necessarily the most friendly places for somebody like her.” And that includes moonlighting as a model. Betts discovered that the First Lady worked as a mannequin for three friends (also aspiring fashion designers) during her days at Princeton. And, how does Michelle feel about her former modeling days and style history being brought to light? “The response was very positive,” Betts said, smiling.