After years of deflecting questions about her wardrobe, Michelle Obama is finally ready to discuss her iconic style — and why she stayed silent about fashion during her time in the White House.
During a People Inc. event in New York promoting her new book The Look, the former First Lady spoke candidly about her decision to avoid talking about fashion while serving alongside her husband, President Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2017.
“I don’t know if you all noticed, but over the eight years I was in the White House, I did not talk at all about fashion,” Obama said. “You all did.”
According to the best-selling author, it was a deliberate choice.
“I was afraid that it would become a distraction,” she explained. “I wanted the country to get to know me from a substantive level. I wanted to be able to tell my full story before I talked about the shoes and the gowns.”
Obama shared that her priority was ensuring that her initiatives — such as Let’s Move! and Reach Higher — defined her public image, not her wardrobe. “I wanted my initiatives to speak for me and who I was,” she said. “But I always knew I was going to talk about [fashion] when the time was right.”
Why Now Is “The Right Time”
That moment, she said, has finally come.
“After two books, a podcast, and being away from that defined role for a while, I think the world knows me from a substantive perspective,” she continued. “Now it’s time to talk about fashion and the role that it played.”
In The Look, Obama dives into what it was like to get dressed every day as a representative of the United States — and the pressure that came with it.
“This book is about the journey, the behind-the-scenes experience of what it was like getting dressed to represent the nation and the world every day,” she explained. “It’s also an homage to the designers who worked tirelessly on my behalf without any fanfare, and to my team — people who are like family to me.”
Spotlighting Her Style Team
Obama used the moment to highlight the young creatives who helped shape her celebrated style: stylist Meredith Koop, makeup artist Carl Ray, and hairstylists Yene Damtew, Johnny Wright, and Njeri Radway.
“When they came into the White House, most of them were babies — in their early 20s, just starting out,” she said. “They performed without recognition because we weren’t talking about fashion. I want them to get their shine.”
Praising her team as “strategic and clever,” Obama said The Look also serves as a tribute to their collective creativity.
“We were the administration that provided opportunities for young people,” she said. “We let young people shine and cook, as the young folks say. So I thought this was the perfect time to begin this conversation.”
The Look is available now wherever books are sold.
