The two dazzling lights on the fashion stage today are Michelle and Kate two women with little in common except the power to drive trends and sell merchandise in a way no other female celebrity alive today can claim.
First lady Michelle Obama and the former Kate Middleton, now known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, adorn magazine covers, turn up on best-dressed lists, and are highlighted in news releases from designers and retailers thrilled when either of them is seen wearing their duds. They are photographed constantly, blogged about incessantly, followed compulsively by the fashion and celebrity press.
Check the newsstands and the Web now: People has an 80-page fashion issue devoted entirely to Kate. After Kate wore a $400 Diane von Furstenberg dress in her recent visit to Los Angeles, it sold out online. Obama is currently on the cover of two magazines; on Better Homes & Gardens, shes wearing a $189 floral Talbots dress that is now sold out, thanks in part to her.
Celebrities come and go and have their moments, but no individual can compare to either of them, says James Fallon, editor of Womens Wear Daily.
They are consequential women who occupy a different tier from the ordinary celeb, says Alexis Bryan Morgan, executive fashion director at Lucky.
Their style is more accessible than, say, Kate Moss or Jennifer Lopez, who are more difficult to emulate, she says. (Michelle and Kate) have a style that people can relate to and afford. The way they shop high and low is the way modern women dress. Its cool to wear J. Crew mixed with Celine or Chloe.
Because of Obama, sleeveless sheath dresses, cinched waists, little cardigans and colorful shoes are everywhere. Because of Kate, silky wrap dresses, nude platforms and sleek clutches are selling briskly.
And sheer pantyhose. Hanesbrands, the major legwear company, reports an 85% increase in sales in the U.K. this year compared with last, according to U.S.-based Hosiery Association trade group. Wolford, a high-end hoisery retailer, reports that sales of tan-colored tights, as the British call them, are up nearly 30% in Britain this year and 16% in the USA.
Both have ascended to these extraordinary roles, but they possess an inherent normalcy that is expressed through their clothes, says blogger Mary Tomer, who founded Mrs-O.com in 2008 to track Obamas fashion.
The two can move merchandise: When Kate wore a form-fitting taupe dress by the British retailer Reiss to meet the Obamas at Buckingham Palace in May, it sold out online within hours.
When Obama wore a floral Talbots dress ($169) on the cover of Essence magazine in 2009, the retailer sold 2,700 in two weeks a major success for a brand transforming its image from stodgy to sparkly, says spokeswoman Meredith Paley. So far, Obama has been seen in 14 different Talbots dresses. In June, she wore a nautical-striped dress from Talbots to the White House Congressional Picnic, and the $189 frock sold out.
When she wore that, our customers went wild, Paley says. Were all working so hard to make this brand chic and American and not frumpy anymore, and here the first lady of the United States has embraced it. It made us feel we have really arrived.
Obama has had an incredibly huge impact, says Jennifer Black, CEO of Jennifer Black & Associates, a retail research firm. The fact that a woman as attractive as Michelle Obama can wear something from Talbots means every woman wants to be like her.
Even when Kate wears $500 frocks, shes connecting with millions, says Tom Kolovos, a fashion consultant and lifestyle blogger (acontrolledsubstance.com). Its fashion a lot of people can afford, and that gives them a thrill because they can go out and buy the things a princess wears, he says.
Magazine editors love these two. Since before she got to Washington, Obama has posed for covers. Shes wearing a LWren Scott shift dress in burgundy jacquard (a blue version is $2,075 at Barneys) on the latest AARP Magazine and a blue-floral $189 Talbots dress (now sold out) on the August Better Homes & Gardens. Online sites such as The Huffington Post run frequent photo galleries such as Michelle Obamas 20 Most Affordable Looks.
Linda Wells, editor of Allure, says the two wear colorful and youthful clothes that show off assets such as legs and arms without being inappropriate. And they repeat outfits as ordinary women do.
Theres something very inviting about the message theyre telegraphing in the way they dress friendliness, accessibility, physical confidence, athleticism, efficiency, says Wells. They are not slaves to fashion. They are taking it in its greatest spirit, which is that its fun.
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