The Look: Michelle Obama’s new fashion book reveals hidden meanings behind her most iconic styles

After delivering bestsellers such as Becoming (2018) and The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times (2022), former First Lady Michelle Obama has launched her new book, The Look. Featuring more than 200 photographs, including never-before-seen images, the book offers an in-depth and personal look at Michelle Obama’s style evolution, in her own words for the first time.In a recent chat with Good Morning America, Michelle Obama spoke about her book, in which she discusses how she used fashion as a powerful form of communication during her eight years in the White House.“I really thought about what I wanted to say with my fashion. I wanted to, you know, talk about inclusion, diversity, opening up opportunities, and fashion was one of those tools that allowed me to do that,” she said in the interview.

Significance of First Lady fashion

First Lady fashion continues to be a crucial part of American culture and history. From Martha Washington, the inaugural First Lady of the United States, to the more recent Melania Trump, First Ladies have used fashion as a powerful tool of influence, identity, and diplomacy. The fabric, colour, designer, and even accessories they choose hold great significance.During her recent chat, Michelle Obama also revealed why she chose certain designers during her term.

“The designers that I chose — there were young designers; there were women designers; there were also immigrant American designers.”Michelle Obama added that her focus when selecting outfits was to showcase the best designers and the diversity that ‘makes America great’.“I was able to show the world the outstanding qualities of people who come from different places, with different backgrounds, with different skin colours, from different genders and sexual orientations,” she said.

Inaugural day fashion

For inaugural day in 2009, Michelle Obama wore a one-shoulder white silk chiffon gown embellished with organza flowers and Swarovski crystals, designed by Jason Wu, a Taiwan-born, New York-based designer who, at the time, was in his early twenties and just starting his career. “I thought about who was going to do my inaugural gown, and someone like Jason Wu — he had just got started [and] is a fabulous designer with a beautiful story, an immigrant American,” she said.

The Look

The Look is available from 4 November. Michelle Obama’s book is a “celebration of style from the moment she entered the public eye during her husband’s U.S. Senate campaign through her time as the first Black First Lady and today as one of this country’s most influential figures,” according to its publisher, The Crown Publishing Group, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It took two years to complete the book, which also features the voices of Meredith Koop, Obama’s trusted stylist, as well as her make-up artist Carl Ray; hairstylists Yene Damtew, Johnny Wright, and Njeri Radway; and many of the designers who have dressed Obama for notable events."During our family’s time in the White House, the way I looked was constantly being dissected — what I wore, how my hair was styled. For a while now, I’ve been wanting to reclaim more of that story, to share it in my own way. I’m thankful to be at a stage in life where I feel comfortable expressing myself freely — wearing what I love and doing what feels true to me. And I’m excited to share some of what I’ve learned along the way. My new book, The Look, comes out on November 4.

It’s a reflection on my lifelong journey with fashion, hair, and beauty," Michelle Obama said in a post on Instagram."The Look is about more than fashion. It’s about confidence. It’s about identity. It’s about the power of authenticity," she added.