Filed under: Celebrity News, News
Oh dear, Nanette Lepore was recently upset with First Lady Michelle Obama. Because of her political views? Nope. Because Mrs. Obama launched a new, unproven initiative? Not so much. Because Ms. Lepore didn't get an invite to a State Dinner, the annual Easter Egg Roll, or the spring harvest of the White House garden? No. No. No.
Nanette Lepore, a clothing designer and Huffington Post blogger, was upset because Michelle Obama stated that women should wear whatever they want to wear.
Following Michelle Obama's decision to wear British designer Alexander McQueen to the recent state dinner honoring China's president, Mrs. Obama drew the ire of Oscar de la Renta and Diane Von Furstenberg, who both want Michelle Obama to feel guilty for not promoting American designers every time she makes a public appearance.
Mrs. Obama responded to their public criticism in a recent appearance on Good Morning America saying:Look, women, wear what you love. That's all I can say. (Source)
Oh no. The shock! The horror! "Wear what you love" as opposed to being dictated to by the whims of a bunch of strangers who lord over an industry whose record of employing people of color is well past poor? Makes perfect sense to me.
Yet, the First Lady's Fashion Declaration of Independence was met with toddler-like simpering by Nanette Lepore, who just couldn't let it go:
Five years of raising awareness for New York's Garment Center have been rendered irrelevant by one statement. What Michelle Obama chooses to wear can save and create American jobs. Her influence on the American fashion industry does not detract from her agenda in the East Wing. The First Lady can support her causes and simultaneously support a valuable American industry and the thousands of people it employs. I wish she would rethink her statement. (Nanette Lepore on The Huffington Post)
Nanette, surely you jest. Your accomplishments could not have been that substantial if a single statement could turn all of that hard work into rubble. The folks over at Jezebel gave a platform Ms. Lepore's melodramatic caterwauling while pondering whether Michelle Obama has "abandoned fashion," after getting a public beating from its leaders. Well I certainly hope so.
Almost three years ago when a certain Maria Pinto purple sleeveless sheath suddenly thrust her into the fashion industry's spotlight, I openly lamented our attempt to turn this Harvard and Princeton-educated lawyer in to our Mannequin-in-Chief:
Just because the nation is obsessed with what Obama wears doesn't mean she has to join us in our obsession by playing the role of national dress-up doll. The fashion industry shouldn't be looking to Obama to be their saviour or patron saint. It's not her responsibility. If they want to be saved, they can save themselves. (The Guardian)
Apparently Ms. Lepore didn't take my advice.
Michelle Obama owes the U.S. fashion industry absolutely nothing. I didn't see any of these people having coniption fits about the clothing selections made by former First Lady Laura Bush. Where was the handwringing from the fashionistas about what former First Lady Hillary Clinton wore? Why does the fate of the American clothiers rest on the first black first lady's back?
The sad pathetic truth is that three years into her husband's first term, we're still objectifying Michele Obama.
We don't want to hear her thoughts about policy, or geopolitical conflict. We've reduced her to discussing fruits and veggies, but to add insult to injury, we want to try to dictate what she wears? The sense of entitlement being placed on Michelle Obama by the American titans of fashion is particularly galling in light of the fashion industry's horrific record on hiring, promoting and mentoring black designers, photographers, models, fashion directors, stylists, editors... need I go on? I mean, the woman single-handedly generated $3 billion for you U.S. fashion people since taking her FLOTUS role by wearing whatever she wants. Can you give her a break?
So in review, Michelle Obama can wear the designer of her choice, or no designer at all. She isn't a mannequin. She's not a doll. She's not a model, but she's already done more than her fair share on behalf of an ungrateful fashion industry. Michelle Obama single handedly introduced the world to Jason Wu. She's worn Tracy Reese, Rachel Roy, and countless other American designers no other first lady, past present, or future would. She has expressed her patriotism through fashion. Don't forget she also has the right to express herself.
The leaders of the American fashion industry should learn to respect the real leadership abilities of First Lady Michelle Obama and stop trying to reduce her to being their pawn. She has made it clear that she doesn't care what they think, as she empowers all women to embrace the same freedom.