What makes someone a beauty and fashion icon? For many of us, we look to the past for inspiration, but with Michelle Obama we look at the present and into the future, as well. As the wife of the 44th President, Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama was immediately cast into the beauty and fashion culture from her first steps onto the international spotlight. She has captured the imagination and heart of the world every moment since.
Michelle Obama’s influence extends far beyond a signature look and the limits of the beauty and fashion world. She is an icon and inspiration. One of her biggest impacts as an icon is how she makes us feel. In her role as first lady, she made us feel seen, heard and inspired us all to find our own voice and our own place. She taught us to embrace education and take real action.
As the first African American first lady of the United States, she holds a special place in the hearts of many. Born on the south side of Chicago, her parents, Fraser and Marian Robinson, instilled in her a commitment to family, hard work, and education. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and a juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1988 making her our most educated first lady. She met future President Barack Obama while working as an associate at the law firm of Sidley Austin in Chicago and they married in 1992.
During her illustrious career, she focused on community service. She served as assistant commissioner of planning and development in Chicago’s City Hall before becoming the founding executive director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an AmeriCorps program that prepares youth for public service. With a vision for bringing campus and community together, she joined the University of Chicago as Associate Dean of Student Services and developed its first community service program, before going to work for the University’s Medical Center, where in 2005 she became the vice president of community and external affairs. As first lady, Michelle Obama initiated the Let’s Move! program aiming to end childhood obesity within a generation. Her Reach Higher initiative helped students understand job opportunities and the education and skills required to succeed. Her commitment to charitable work is well documented in and out of the White House. Through her main initiatives, she became a role model for women and an advocate for healthy families, service members, higher education, and international adolescent girls education. Even in a hot spotlight or under intense pressure, she reminds us, “When they go low, we go high. ”
Since Barack Obama’s run for president, Michelle Obama’s style has captivated the nation. From the White House to world appearances, and even getting on and off planes, her fashion, hair and makeup has been debated and discussed. Whether it is her ability to offer timeless elegance or try new trendsetting looks, they are always statement-making. Her beauty team is comprised of makeup artist Carl Ray and hairstylist Yene Damtew, beloved in our industry and so generous with their advice and insight. On the topic of her makeup, Carl Ray says, “My inspiration was one of strength and confidence.”
Whether it is the popularity of a dress she wears, the impact of her smokey eye at a ball or a beige lip at a basketball game, Michelle Obama manages to make beauty look both aspirational and attainable. Her looks are broken down and recreated again and again, and countless articles are written about her skincare routine and makeup choices. In the timeless tradition of fellow First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, we reference her looks on set all the time. But more importantly, she reminds us that beauty is more than makeup and beyond skin deep.
Vogue’s Anna Wintour says, “I think First Lady Michelle Obama really was so incredible in every decision she made about fashion. She supported young American designers. She supported designers, indeed, from all over the world. She was the best ambassador that this country could possibly have in many ways, obviously, way beyond fashion.”
As a testament to her presence, her portrait, First Lady Michelle Obama, painted by the artist Amy Sherald, is one of the most visited works of art in National Portrait Gallery in Washington and one of the most popular shared on social media. Little girls often speak of seeing themselves in her. Since leaving the White House, Michelle Obama has focused on public service, written books, has a Netflix documentary and more. Her commitment to her family, communities, and our country, date back to her days with her family in Chicago and her parents instilling and inspiring those values. Michelle Obama told the Democratic National Convention in 2008, “By way of our own improbable journey” and “driven by a simple belief that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.”
Words James Vincent
Portrait David Gilmore