[ad_1]
Tuesday night, when Michelle Obama appeared on the stage of the United Center in Chicago for the start of her rock concert in 10 cities and 11 stadiums – oops, excuse me, guided tour of the book, in a white and asymmetrical sequined shirt echoing the shirt on the cover photo, as well as the high-waisted white pants (both by Sally LaPointe), the reaction was free and instantaneous.
The crowd loved him! They liked his honesty about his marriage and President Trump! They loved his memoirs, "Becoming". And they really loved his new look.
Grimace yourself if you wish, but knowing that it will go up, you can bet that during the next four weeks your social media feed will be dominated by the analysis of every appearance and a detailed description of what it carries. It has already begun, with a cover of Elle magazine featuring Mrs. Obama laughing, dressed in a flawless white shirt, a pleated skirt and a black leather corset from Dior.
Inside, the photos show a satin-leather panties and satin jacket (at Ms. LaPointe's waist) and a transparent Ann Demeulemeester top over a suit, which encourages people to welcome the social media analysis and experimentation.
Such an examination was virtually a national obsession during the years of Mrs. Obama's White House, as she notes in her memoirs: writing: "It seemed like my clothes mattered more to people than anything I had to say", and "The optics was governing more or less everything in the political world, and I have taken into account in each outfit. "
Since then, during the presentation of her official portrait at the Museum of Fine Arts, in which she wore a highly discussed geometric print dress, Milly; at the ESPY Awards 2017, when she handed the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in black asymmetric Cushnie dress. And this will only become more pronounced as people analyze his future intentions through his clothes.
Mrs. Obama uses fashion in a nuanced way as a tool and a celebration (as opposed to a defensive measure, for example). All this makes every fashion choice even more loaded, and none of them escaped the woman who, from Second year of Mrs. Obama at the White House, has Helped to understand everything: Meredith Koop. (Ms. Koop called the filming of Elle, so that the clothes reflect the idea of Mrs. Obama, not that of the magazine.)
"I met Meredith when she was a young saleswoman about ten years ago and since then I have the chance to have her by my side," Ms. Obama wrote in a statement. email. "Together, we have prepared for all kinds of events – afternoons in t-shirts and gloves in a garden with college students at parties in formal ball gowns with heads of state. Over the years, I rely on Meredith for more than the wardrobe. She rode with us for eight hectic years. She has been a friend and mentor for our girls. And it has given us a sense of comfort and welcome, no matter where we are in the world.
For years, Miss Koop, 37, from Missouri, with her size, large cheekbones, and bright blue eyes from the Midwest, has worked largely behind the scenes, but since the end of the administration Obama, she slowly emerged from the shadows. . But the book tour is about to take him – or at least from his work – to the edges of the projector.
This is a role she is uncomfortable with, partly because her larger business card is the one she fears most to appear to be exploiting. (She gave only one formal interview, in 2016, when she was leaving the White House.) Mission Now: Define what the next step looks like. Not just for the former first lady, but for herself.
Does the approach that continues to help make Mrs. Obama such a remarkable character – an approach that involves choosing clothes not only for their looks (cute!), But also for the values that they represent – can be applied to the lives of ordinary women?
Is there a place outside of politics for a stylist with an agenda?
L & # 39; anti-stylist
Today, Ms. Koop spends most of her time in a bright apartment on the second floor of a walk-up building in Brooklyn Heights, furnished with a cream couch and green plants. She moved there in 2017 with her boyfriend, Tomas Pagan Motta, a musician he met while in Washington. (He worked in the archives department.)
She has a small desk in the bedroom but mostly works on her computer at the dining room table sitting on a baseball chair. In his bedroom, there are rolling clothes baskets that slip under the bed when they are not in use.
Ms. Koop devotes more time to browsing websites and runway shows than staying in the front row at fashion week or going to open stores. "I've always been a stranger," she said one afternoon this summer, as she began planning the book tour. "I think it makes me more accessible to people who are intimidated by the idea that fashion is coming to their door."
Ms. Koop did not want to be a stylist. Having grown up in St. Louis, she wanted to become a dancer. She went to Vanderbilt University and ended up living with her older sister in Chicago. One day, she saw an advertisement in a newspaper for a seller in a clothing store and decided to apply.
"It was an extraordinary training," she said, "although I do not realize it at the time." One of those women was Michelle Obama .
When Barack Obama started his first presidential campaign, Mrs. Obama hired Ikram as a wardrobe advisor, and Mrs. Goldman became a key figure in the definition of what has become the "Obama style", that is, focused on using the attention attached to the work to support independent and emerging American designers, building a bridge between all prices and break the first lady pastel molds skirts and suits. (The J Crew Ms. Goldman's idea was in Mrs. Obama's mind during "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.)
But Ms. Goldman ran a business and could not move to DC, so she was looking for someone to help with communications. Ms. Koop was young and had nothing to keep her in Chicago. And she could recognize an opportunity.
She started as a general assistant, and in 2010, after Ms. Goldman gave up her unofficial role in the White House to focus on her store, Ms. Koop became the first de facto stylist of the lady in Ikram mode: to explore "the patchwork of America. "It was at that point that she learned what it really meant. Which is pretty much what all dressing involves, only with much higher stakes.
Dress up the first lady
"You have to anticipate all avenues of attack and all possible outcomes," Ms. Koop recalled as she remembered. Everyone has an opinion: this dress is too informal; it's too frilly; It's expensive; it's too conceptual.
"You have to celebrate fashion, but also be aware of the message that people are going to convey," she said. "Fashion can strengthen communication in the best case, or be a silent partner, or really distract." All the clothes concerned Thu every possible reaction, good or bad, that she could imagine.
She would attend meetings with policy experts and the external relations team. She would research the countries where the first lady traveled, target a look and finally show the first lady.
"I would like to try to make the case: that's why it makes sense, why this designer, this cut," Ms. Koop said. "Then we asked," Do you like that? We then thought about the logistics: on what surface do you walk? How many events will you be sitting? Will you stand up?
To get the clothes, she sent an email directly to the designers. "Her vision (and Mrs. Obama's) of how Ms. O wants to look at each event is always clear," Tracy Reese said in an email (Ms. Reese made the pink and silver sleeveless dress that Mrs. Obama wore at the 2012 Democratic convention, among others). "Despite all the planning and logistics involved, she also manages to keep the process light and collaborative."
Narciso Rodriguez, whose marigold dress that Mrs. Obama wore for her husband's latest state union in 2016, said much the same thing: "She's quite right about what she needs and lets you do what you want. "
Mrs. Obama had the O.K. final but did not interview her before. "She just believed in me," said Ms. Koop. She did not want to say more, she said, because she would cry.
But then it was over (or almost), and she wondered what to do next.
"I've talked to a lot of celebrity stylists, but I have not heard much positive about their business," she said, drinking water from a Mason jar. "I did not want to be in the run of the seasons, or promote the idea of wearing disposable clothes, or wear something on a red carpet, or be in a room with a publicist telling me what to do. I did not just want to appear on a set and style for an advertiser. "
But she did not want to leave fashion either. She wanted to do what she did, but for a wider variety of people. She wanted to focus on emerging creators or on out-of-fashion names and introduce them to buyers who tend to be interested in what they already know. Instead of always considering the diplomatic message, she thought it would be interesting to think of the humanist message. We did not know exactly how to style this work.
From the white house to the wing
One October afternoon in the branch of Chelsea's wing, the Collaborative workspace for women, some members were floating in the entrance of a small room at the back. On a wall, shelves filled with Cuyana's core parts, a line focused on local production, were launched in 2011 by two graduates of a business school with the 'Less Things, Better' mission statement. things".
Cuyana's founders, Shilpa Shah and Karla Gallardo, had hired Ms. Koop to make guest appearances and help women understand how to define their style.
Ms. Koop, dressed in high-waisted jeans, kitten heels and a "I'm a voter" t-shirt, was trying to quickly psychoanalyze each potential customer in 20-minute increments. "Are you a person dressed?" She said to a young woman. "Sometimes a blazer or suit may look like a suit, like you're trying too hard to be a boss," she told another.
A young woman dressed in a striped dress and sneakers appeared. "Are you really Michelle Obama's stylist?" She asked. "It's so cool." She then added, "I recently realized that the crop highs are no longer correct. But what's next? "
Later, Ms. Koop said, "It's so complicated to be a woman. You want to be yourself and you want to look good, but you do not want to be objectified, you do not want to wear a bag. "
Her time now is usually divided between projects like the one with Cuyana and another that she does with the American Civil Liberties Union that will bring her together with the fashion community to find ways to use clothing. beyond simply doing message T-shirt.
She also designed a raincoat for Everybody World, a brand launched by former American Apparel designer, Iris Alonzo, as a kind of hub for animated creative minds of the same spirit and anxious to get the most out of it. environment. It has an adjustable size for an adjustment as inclusive as possible and will go on sale in February.
She is also working on a TV series with production company Honto88 (who created #MySentence P.S.A.s on prison reform), which will look at how fashion reflects the culture of her day. And she always makes a personal style.
She has about 10 clients (including two men, as well as the first client), aged 20 to 60 and 4 to 20 years old. She spends a lot of time talking to them about their lives and going through their cabinets. She takes a carver, Christy Rilling, because she often reworks the pieces they have to update them. She will not buy fast fashion. And she is still not convinced that she has found the right balance.
"I do not want to name people in five years," Ms. Koop said. "It's not really a business that you can adapt, because in the end, I have to be there." For now she is focusing on the book tour.
"I really want what she wears to accurately reflect her personality and reflect the content of the book," she said about Mrs. Obama. "For a certain percentage of the country, times are depressing and there is not much to do to recognize this and celebrate it for what it is as a woman. In addition, his message is largely about connecting with younger people. So, what does all this look like?
She thinks of a mix of creators, including names that Mrs. Obama did not wear before (to make this umbrella even more inclusive), but she does not think about dresses because they have too many associations with Ms.'s time. Obama as the first lady. And because they make her think the word "relic" more than the words "mighty" and "classy", which are the ones she thinks that Mrs. Obama should use.
She thinks more of pants.
Source link
