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As First Lady, every choice is a statement. What charity or social interest will MO support? How will she combine her role as wife, mother, and abandon her paid work, yet retain her status as a model for working women?But for now, the online conversation remains focused on the "model" element, literally. The buzz: fashion, race, promoting the community. Amnau Eele, cofounder of the Black Artists Association and former YSL model told WWD:“It’s fine and good if you want to be all ‘Kumbaya’ and ‘We Are the World’ by representing all different countries. But if you are going to have Isabel Toledo do the inauguration dress, and Jason Wu do the evening gown, why not have Kevan Hall, B Michael, Stephen Burrows or any of the other black designers do something too?” . She added, “It’s one thing to look at the world without color but she had seven slots to wear designer clothes. Why wasn’t she wearing the clothes of a black designer? That was our moment.”What those 7 opportunities were, I can only guess. But I surmise that even if MO had selected a black designer for one of the 7 events but not the key events - Inauguration Day and the Ball - that the criticism would have been no less: Good but not good enough for prime time?"That was our moment" stings. Of course it was, in so many ways, but did the failure to incorporate a fashion statement about the creativity and skill of black designers diminish it? Absolutely if you're a black designer. But there will be many other moments. What was positive about Mo's choice was that she avoided the usual suspects, went for diversity, and avoided the Sarah Palin message of elitism and class: you're only as good as your label.
What was positive about Mo's choice was that she avoided the usual suspects, went for diversity, and avoided the Sarah Palin message of elitism and class: you're only as good as your label.
