Michelle Obama owes her great figure to healthy eating, exercise... and Spanx.
Wearing a navy sleeveless dress designed by a Fashion Institute of Technology student, Obama addressed a group of high school and college students, reported The Hill, for the inaugural Fashion Education Workshop at the White House. Also present were "a high-profile pack of fashionistas and style gurus, including Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and designers Diane Von Furstenberg, Jason Wu, Prabal Gurung, and Tracy Reese."
The FLOTUS gave a verbal high-five to the support garment while addressing the crowd. "Spanx is a multibillion-dollar company... and we all wear them with pride," she said with a laugh reported The New York Daily News and WTMA (ABC news radio).
Obama wasn't just giving out secrets to smoother lines. She was also highlighting the struggles of Spanx creator, Sara Blakely, whose determination prevailed over countless rejections. "She pitched her idea to factories and mills...she was turned down again and again and again," the Daily News quoted Obama as
saying. "But finally, a manager at a factory liked her idea, and today, 14 years later, Sara's idea, Spanx, is a multibillion-dollar company with products selling in more than 50 countries."
Some may think fashion is all catwalk glamour or Ugly Betty gossip, but the First Lady spoke of "education and hard work" as the only way to achieve your goals, reported Canada.com.
"The truth is that the clothes you see in the magazine covers are really just the finished product in what is a very long, very complicated and very difficult process, as I've come to learn working with many designers," Obama is quoted as saying.
Obama said Americans spent $350 billion last year on clothes and shoes, so design plays an important role in the economy. Retailers and other fashion-related entities employ 1.4 million Americans. "Fashion is about so much more than just a pretty pair of pumps or the perfect hemline," Obama told the audience. "For so many people across the country it is a calling, it is a career and it's a way they feed their families."
