Dressing Michelle Obama made my brand credible - Ghanaian designer

From Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama, every First Lady of the United States of America is inevitably a style icon; what she wears to state programs sets trends.

Former First Lady, Michelle Obama was undeniably a fashion icon and made concerted effort to lift up the fashion industry, wearing and subsequently boosting the businesses of many independent American designers like of the lives of Ghanaian fashion designer, Mimi Plange.

In 2012, Mrs. Obama wore a Mimi Plange dress when she appeared on The View as a special guest.

Sharing her working experience and in a lifetime opportunity of dressing the Michelle Obama, Mimi revealed that, “Dressing Michelle Obama gave us an immense sense of hope, and confirmed our belief that anything is possible.

The honor meant that our clothes could touch great and powerful women and it gave us lasting inspiration that we still pull from today,” remarked Plange.

"We dressed Michelle Obama in the first few years of establishing our brand. She gave us a chance, and it meant everything.”

Mimi also revealed dressing the U.S First lady drew more attention to the brand.

“It made people pay attention and gave us a new voice, almost a tool to be able to tell and share our story with people who automatically wanted to know more.

Buyers and editors wanted to know who we were. As an up-and-coming designer, it made your brand credible, right away. People wanted to see what we had to offer, it was a huge honor that became a selling tool.

As far as retail/sales is concerned, it definitely helped us open new national and international accounts and we definitely saw a change in editorial requests. It certainly gives global awareness that emerging brands like us need to compete and grow.”

Mimi Plange launched her own ready-to-wear label in 2010, after a decade working in the New York fashion industry. She is a graduate of the San Francisco Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and holds a degree in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley.

She has received acclaim for her work in the fashion industry, winning such accolades as International Emerging Designer of the Year in 2011 at the Mercedes-Benz Africa Fashion Week held in South Africa.

The year after, she was named Designer of the Year. She also won Mayor Bloomberg’s Design Entrepreneurs Award in New York in 2012. Last year, she took part in the Celebration of Design Event hosted by Michelle Obama at the White House.