J. Crew Creates Custom Chic for the Obama Girls
Categories: Celeb Kids, Life & Style, Kid Decor & Style
And it was all custom-made, just for them, by a team of four designers. So don't even ask. Don't even try to find them.
Inauguration Kids
So what should Sasha and Malia Obama do when they move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Jenna and Barbara Bush share their advice, including "Four years goes by so fast, so absorb it all, enjoy it all!"
J. Scott Applewhite, Pool / Getty Images
Congratulations First Family! All eyes were on Barack and Michelle Obama as he made history as #44 and America's first black president. We at ParentDish are starstruck by Malia and Sasha, who have joined a most exclusive club of toddlers, children, teens and young adults: All the President's Children.
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Sasha Obama is playful after taking her seat .
Jeff Christensen, AP
The Obama girls were easy, breezy and totally adorable on their father's inauguration day. Malia, 10, wore a double-breasted periwinkle-blue coat with a blue-ribbon tied in a bow at the waist. Seven-year-old Sasha wore a matching outfit in pinks and corals; both coats were from Crewcuts by J. Crew.
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US President Barack Obama greets daughter Sasha during the inaugural ceremony at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2009.
Robyn Beck, AFP / Getty Images
Sasha gives her father the thumbs up following the presidential oath.
Stan Honda, AFP / Getty Images
Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia watch as President George W. Bush walks by during the inauguration of Barack Obama.
Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images
Barack H. Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States as his wife Michelle holds the Bible -- last used in Abraham Lincoln's inauguration -- and their daughters Malia and Sasha look on, on the West Front of the Capitol January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC.
Chuck Kennedy, Pool / Getty Images
George W Bush takes the oath for his second term in 2005, as his wife Laura and daughters Jenna and Barbara stand with him at the podium.
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Former Vice President Dick Cheney and wife Lynne watch the 2005 inauguration, flanked by their youngest family members.
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"We're planning on keeping the things we made for the Obama family uniquely theirs," said J. Crew's creative director Jenna Lyons. "We are not reproducing or duplicating anything, especially for the young girls."
Why not? "I don't want them to go to school next fall and see all the girls in their school in the same coats they're wearing," she said. "It was a momentous occasion and they need it to be uniquely theirs." (Your girls can copy the look right now by tying a wide velvet or satin ribbon around their coats.)
But as word of who designed the girls' dresses and jackets spread, that tidbit of news got lost. JCrew.com was inundated with requests from just about every mom to a tween girl in the country. The servers went down not once but twice. And in an economy where shopping is out, their stock jumped 10 percent the day after the inauguration.
The Obama women are known fans of J.Crew. First Lady Michelle Obama wore their gloves on Tuesday (with her Isabel Toledo dress) and last fall she appeared on Jay Leno dressed head-to-toe in J.Crew. It's no surprise that the company was asked to submit designs. The hard part was to turn around and create the most important outfits in these young girls' lives (to date) in just two weeks. It was worth it. "It was the most exciting, the most electric thing, to be there when it was all happening," said Lyon.
As I watched the inauguration, I thought the Obama girls looked both elegant and age-appropriate, which isn't something you can often say about kids these days. Here's your chance to weigh in. Did the girls look amazing, average or awful?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Melissa 1-22-2009 @ 2:19PM
Those two girls are always beautiful! Just like their mom, always dressed age appropriate, and fashionable without being over the top! I thought those coats and outfits were awesome!
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grimmmey 1-22-2009 @ 4:24PM
I thought the girls looked absolutely wonderful and perfectly appropriate for the occasion....no glitter or glitz, which was nice to see in this day and age of over the top clothes for little girls. And, I think it is pretty awesome for J Crew to allow these girls to have something uniquely theirs when it would obviously benefit J Crew to mass produce these outfits or something like it. It just goes to show that corporate greed doesn't always rule, and moms can still dress their daughters like the young girls they are.
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Charles 1-22-2009 @ 5:56PM
It's disappointing that the Obamas are promoting a company that has been accused of violating human rights, polluting the environment, and exposing its customers to harmful chemicals. At least that's what it says at http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/company.cfm?id=244.
I understand that large corporations can't always afford to be perfect, but it really didn't strike me as appropriate. I wonder how much J Crew paid them for turning the inauguration into a clothing commercial. Or maybe that's not what happened. Maybe the girls just really like J Crew. If that's the case, the media is making it look like a paid promotion, especially with how Wolf Blitzer was directing viewers to the J Crew web site yesterday.
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silkylady70 1-23-2009 @ 8:37AM
CHANGE
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