*Fresh from coming to the rescue of Leslie Jones when designers weren’t flocking to dress her for the “Ghostbusters” premiere, fashion designer Christian Siriano is back in the headlines as being an indirect part of Michelle Obama’s magic moment at the Democratic National Convention.
For her well-received opening night speech, FLOTUS chose a cobalt blue cap sleeve, fit n’ flare dress by the New York designer.
Also the winner of “Project Runway” Season 4, Siriano “has built his career on being inclusive: on catering to women regardless of size or age,” writes Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times, who thinks Obama’s choice of Siriano was part of a bigger statement underscoring the positive tone of her speech.
She writes:
He also has a collaboration with the plus-size store Lane Bryant, for which he held a runway show at the United Nations earlier this year, and has dressed other celebrities including Kate Hudson and Zendaya.
“I just don’t think anyone should be excluded from having a beautiful dress,” he said to me when we were talking about the [Leslie] Jones brouhaha, and why he had volunteered to play fairy godfather.
Lest you think all Mrs. Obama’s wardrobe choice was happenstance, however, know that the convention appearance was only the second time she has worn Mr. Siriano; the first time was this month, at the funeral for the police officers killed in Dallas.
Throughout her time in the White House, the first lady has made something of a secondary cause out of supporting new, independent American designers, and choosing her clothes not only because she likes them but because their back story has a certain resonance that goes beyond the aesthetic. Monday night was no different. Fashion is not known for its embrace of togetherness (more for its exclusion). But Mr. Siriano is.
Think that’s just a coincidence?
Below, Siriano on a 2013 episode of OWN’s “Where Are They Now?”
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