Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Michelle Obama’s Official Portrait Dress
We’re still in awe of the stunning portrait of Michelle Obama that was revealed at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. yesterday. The former FLOTUS was immortalized in an elegant black and white gown which featured a smattering of colorful geometric shapes.
Artist Amy Sherald painted the mother of two wearing a gown by Michelle Smith, the designer behind contemporary label Milly — a brand that the always-fashionable activist has worn in the past.
The dress was modeled after a piece from the label’s spring 2017 collection. According to Vogue, the designer intended for the custom dress to be one that “Mrs. Obama could wear in her everyday life, as well as in this iconic portrait,” noting that the fabric and pattern is “without a reference to anything past or nostalgic, which gives the dress a very forward-thinking sensibility — this is very Michelle Obama.”
While we can’t disagree with the fact that the former FLOTUS is extremely forward-thinking, we’d be remiss not to mention the painter’s own astute interpretation of the dress. Sherald compared it to “the inspired quilt masterpieces made by the women of Gee’s Bend,” which she explains is “a small remote black community in Alabama where they compose quilts in geometries that transform clothes and fabric remnants into masterpieces.”
We’re loving both beautiful interpretations of the dress, and we can’t wait to see the painting IRL. (If you’re in the D.C. area, you can stop by starting today!)
What do you think of Michelle Obama’s portrait dress? Let us know @BritandCo!
(Photos via SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty + Slaven Vlasic/Getty)