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 on her visit to Los Angeles this summer, it sold out online. Obama is now on the cover of two magazines; on Better Homes & Gardens, shes wearing a $189 floral Talbots dress that has sold out, in part thanks 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 percent increase in sales in the U.K. this year compared with last, according to the U.S.-based Hosiery Association trade group. Wolford, a high-end hosiery retailer, reports that sales of tan-colored tights, as the British call them, are up nearly 30 percent in Britain this year and 16 percent in the US.
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 British retailer Reiss to meet the Obamas at Buckingham Palace in May, it sold out online within hours.
In June, Obama wore a nautical-striped dress from Talbots to the White House Congressional Picnic, and the $189 frock sold out.
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.
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, Wells says. They are not slaves to fashion. They are taking it in its greatest spirit, which is that its fun.
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