The First Lady Effect: WWD

Quoted via WWD:

She’s been called a one-woman stimulus plan for the fashion industry. And certainly the breathless cataloguing of Michelle Obama’s sartorial choices — from the $565 two-tone Lanvin sneakers she wore to a D.C. food bank in mid-May to the black Michael Kors sheath and Peter Soronen corset she donned for a recent Time gala — has shown no sign of abating since her husband took office in January. Along the way, those who produced the clothes, whether J. Crew or high-end designers (despite the kudos she has garnered for the former, Mrs. Obama has shown a considerable penchant for expensive stuff, too), have been catapulted into the limelight. But what impact has such triple-A-list exposure had on their businesses?

Both a little and a lot, it turns out. In terms of name recognition, the effect for some of the smaller types Obama has championed, such as Jason Wu and Thakoon, has been immeasurable. But so far, the bottom-line impact on the klatch of tony designers Obama has worn consistently is, as much as can be measured, less than spectacular. more