A Fashionable Crowd

Image by Evan Vucci / AP Photo 

Also in attendance at this evening's state dinner ... 

"Watch Anna Wintour Arrive at the State Dinner" [NYMag]

First Look: Welcoming President Hu Jintao

Photos by Mark Wilson / Getty Images

The First Lady attended a state arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House this morning, wearing a navy wool coat and embellished dress. Red gloves added Mrs. O's signature "pop of color." 

The First Lady is set to discuss the China state visit with high school and college students at Howard University later this morning, which may give us a better glimpse at this dress.

Women's Wear Daily reports:

There’s a new name to add to the MObama fashion clique: Roksanda Ilincic. The First Lady greeted Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday morning wearing a beaded wool and duchess silk satin dress and wool coat from the London-based designer's fall 2010 collection. The look is available at Net-a-Porter.com, Blake in Chicago and Linda Dresner in Michigan.

It's difficult to say until we see the full ensemble, but I believe this may be a similar skirt to the one the first lady is wearing, on sale at Net-a-Porter.com (UK), here.

Photo via the Obama diary

For more great coverage, check out photos and posts on these blogs:

[Obama Foodorama]

[The Obama Diary]

Vogue.com (UK) caught up with designer Roksanda Ilincic yesterday. To read: [Vogue.com UK]

Happy Birthday Mrs. O

Image by Jewel Samad / Getty Images 

Happy Birthday to Mrs. O on her 47th birthday! The First Lady will mark her birthday by participating in a service project to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Stuart Hobson Middle School today (seen above). Yesterday, the First Family attended morning services at Metropolitan AME church, where parishoners sang "Happy Birthday" to the First Lady. 

Update: The President, First Lady and close friends dined at Wolfgang Puck's the Source restaurant for Mrs. O's birthday on Monday night. To read more, click here.

For further reading: A Sunday of Song for Obamas [NYT]

State Dinner Set for Wednesday

The President and First Lady will host President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China for a state visit this week.  Festivities begin tomorrow, when Vice President Biden will lead the U.S. delegation to welcome President Hu at Andrews Air Force Base. A private dinner at the White House will follow.

On Wednesday morning, the president and first lady will officially welcome President Hu to the White House in a state arrival ceremony, followed later in the evening by a state dinner. Details on the menu and entertainment have yet to be announced. The key question in this circle: What will Mrs. O wear?

"Obama to honor China's president with state dinner" [AP]

"State Visit of President Hu Jintao" [Obama Foodorama]

One to Watch: Kevork Kiledjian

Photo by Jim Watson / Getty Images

Last week I received a tip from reader "fashion boy," that the first lady's dress above hailed from the label Guilty Brotherhood. This was an exciting bit of news on two fronts, as 1) the dress was part of the President and First Lady's historic trip to India and Indonesia, yet even several months later, remained a mystery, and 2) Guilty Brotherhood is a label I'm not familiar with -- who doesn't love a new discovery? 

With a few emails sent, the dress proved to be from the line of Kevork Kiledjian, who also designed Guilty Brotherhood. A point of clarification: Kiledjian decided, after the SS11 collection for Guilty Brotherhood, that he will, from now on, develop his line under his own name. The dress is black and red feather print (not ikat, as many in the media, as well as this blog, speculated), from the designer's Fall Winter 2010 collection, and available at Ikram in Chicago.

With that information in hand, I visited the Guilty Brotherhood website, to learn more about the designer and his sexy, avant garde designs, often constructed of leather and lace in black and vibrant red hues. 

"Torn by extremes all his life, Kevork Kiledjian has created a dualistic style defined by the relationship between luxe and urban. Founder of the brand Triiad, still recognized as a seminal success in the history of French street wear, Kiledjian has also been at the heart of brilliant and diverse collaborations in the fashion world and beyond. In 2008, Kiledjian, hoping to share his personal vision of luxury and his love for the modern woman, opened the doors of the provocative and sumptuous pret-a-porter Guilty Brotherhood house."

What fascinates me most about this pairing is the setting. Kiledjian certainly has one of the sexiest aesthetics of any designer in Mrs. O's repertoire. And yet, on the occasion she chose his work, Mrs. O was at her most modest, honoring the culture and custom of Indonesia. It is an interesting - one wonders, deliberate? - tension to ponder.