With Michelle Obama poised to be the new Jackie-O, it comes as no surprise that designers are clamoring to dress her for the inauguration ball.  The now-famous Narcisso Rodriguez dress she wore for her husband's victory speech garnered more press attention than a year’s worth of PR budget for most brands. 

So when WWD asked twenty of today’s top designers to submit sketches for possible gowns, most jumped at the chance with everyone from Michael Kors to Diane Von Furstenberg and Betsey Johnson submitting sketches.  Betsey’s may have been a bit too reminiscent of her pirate/little house on the prairie themed Spring 2009 runway show to be considered, but the others were as chic and glamorous as the woman herself. 

As The Cut reports, “But of all the designers who participated in the exercise — Marc Jacobs, Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, Carolina Herrera, and Zac Posen, to name a few — key players were missing, namely Michelle's favorite designers. Where was Thakoon? Maria Pinto? Narciso Rodriguez? Jason Wu? It's unlikely WWD didn't ask them.” 

With all eyes on Michelle, she’ll likely put a good deal of thought into her choice—wearing something too high-end may look bad while the country cuts back on shopping but a fashion faux pas will send the press into a frenzy. 

Adrien Field