Yesterday, Barack and Michelle Obama received the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur at the White House. Later in the day, Michelle wore a skirt by Indian-American designer Rachel Roy to speak about that evening’s State Dinner. For the event, she wore a dress by another Indian-American designer, Naeem Khan. The gown was no last-minute decision. Created in what sounds like a highly secure top secret State operation, Khan orchestrated the design with Ikram Goldman, the First Lady’s unofficial stylist in Chicago. He had been asked to create something “Indian, chic, simple, but very glamorous.” Khan submitted three or four gowns for the event, and Michelle made quite the extravagant choice. Mrs. O reports:
The strapless gown features hand cut sterling silver sequins sewn on nude silk chiffon, which create an abstract floral pattern. The dress is entirely handmade, requiring three weeks of work by 40 people, completed in Naeem Kahn’s family workshop in India.
What she lacked in diamonds (though she wore some in the bracelet stack on her arm), she made up for in subtle handiwork. Evidently this was no time to wear a J.Crew cardigan and waist belt she’d been seen gardening in seventeen times since moving to the White House. This gown was planned way in advance, like prom or something.
Desiree Rogers in a look from the Commes des Garçons runway.Photo: Reuters/Imaxtree
