Michelle Obama continues to dazzle us with her post-White House fashion. Now that she is a private citizen, the former First Lady is giving us all sorts of high-end designers she may have shied away from during Barack Obama's presidency. Since her Becoming book tour kicked off last year, she's worn those (now) infamous Givenchy boots, Cushnie, Pyer Moss, and Stine Goya. On Monday, during the final stop on her book tour in Nashville, Obama wore a statement suit by emerging designer Christopher John Rogers.
Rogers, who was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, tells Vogue Michelle's long-time stylist Meredith Koop direct messaged him on Instagram to commission something for Obama to wear during her tour. After Rogers celebrated on the 'gram, sharing a photo of Michelle wearing his a metallic lavender suit embellished with Swarovski crystal buttons, which she accessorized with a pair of silver pumps and a choker necklace. “It’s an incredible privilege and honor to have been chosen to create a look for one of the most galvanizing, self-assured, and distinguished individuals of our time,” he wrote on Instagram.
“It means the world to me and my team that one of the most outspoken and inspiring women chose to wear our work and chose to close out her book tour [in it]. Her being a highly progressive woman of color makes it that much more special,” Rogers explained to Vogue. “I wanted something gently arresting, so we nixed the idea of bright colors and went with a mid-toned cyan, something strongly hued but not electric.” He added: “We also really wanted to highlight our tailoring capabilities and show that we actually cut clothes really well, so we kept the color semi-neutral.”
Last September, Rogers told Refinery29 that his brand aims to "create clothes that champion the self and encourage new propositions for occasion and celebratory dressing." Since his debut collection that same month, Rogers has already amassed a celebrity following with Lizzo, Tessa Thompson, and Tracee Ellis Ross wearing his clothing. “I think it’s definitely another milestone in my very short career,” Rogers tells Vogue of dressing Michelle Obama. “I didn’t expect this to happen this soon. It reiterates the fact that we mean business and we’re not just making evening gowns and ruffled confections. We make clothes for real people with voices and points of view about the way they want to dress themselves.”