Woman’s Wear Daily commissioned 40 top designers to sketch what they thought Ms. Obama should wear on inauguration day. The resulting slideshow is actually pretty fun to flip through… not only to critique the dress designs, but primarily to laugh at some of the very bizarre portrayals of Michelle Obama. I’ve posted two of the strangest ones above: Karl Lagerfeld’s sketch (left) looks nothing like Michelle, while Koi’s (right) bears a striking resemblance to Michael Jackson.
Interesting discussion on the portrayal of minority women in [fashion] media is happening on Slate’s XX Factor blog.
Julia Turner makes the original observation:
I was struck by how incapable the world’s top fashion designers are of sketching Michelle. The fashion world is notoriously inhospitable to black women—if Michelle Obama lands the cover of Vogue, as has been rumored, she’ll be one of the few black nonmodels ever to grace it—but these sketches suggest a discomfort with blackness that’s truly startling.
However, Marjorie Valbrun launches the most scathing criticism:
I too found some of the renderings of Michelle Obama questionable and also troubling because of their subtle use of stereotypical imagery. Christian Lacroix’s Michelle is a sneering, mean-looking lady, much like the “angry black woman” the Obama haters accused Michellle Obama of being. Why is she frowning in every sketch? Doesn’t she have every reason to be happy? After all, her husband is the soon-to-be leader of the free world. You’d think the new first lady is smile-challenged.
I know nothing about the world of fashion (or race relations for that matter), but I will agree that there’s nothing remotely new or surprising about the idea that minorities are stereotyped by the media (i.e. the token minority on any comedy). What’s interesting to me is how the Obama family might help transform some of these stereotypes- or not. Anyways, with her relative youth, Michelle is most certainly going to be a modern cultural icon, à la Jacquie Kennedy. To me, this is best confirmed by the amount of fodder I’ve already read critiquing her fashion choices.
I suppose only time will tell what cultural significance the election of America’s first black president might have on engrained perceptions- if any. All I know is that there are going to be a lot of job openings for political cartoonists, who can accurately represent African Americans without resorting to stereotypes. Judging by this ill-advised cover, I’m guessing the New Yorker’s probably hiring.
