'Sobbing' Obama marks daughter's high school graduation

WASHINGTON, United States - President Barack Obama made the short but sentimental drive across Washington on Friday to attend his oldest daughter's high school graduation.

Obama has joked that Malia's graduation was the one event where he could not give an address.

"Malia's school asked if I wanted to speak at commencement and I said no," Obama said in Detroit earlier this year.

"I'm going to be wearing dark glasses... and I'm going to cry."

True to his promise, Obama was photographed by guests at Sidwell Friends School wearing dark glasses.

He was accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama, Malia and his youngest daughter Sasha.

Malia was 10 years old when Obama entered office, almost eight years ago.

She is expected to attend Harvard in 2017, after a gap year.

Obama earlier this year told television host Ellen DeGeneres of his sorrow at thinking that she would soon fly the nest.

He said he would be "sobbing" at the graduation.

"She's one of my best friends. And it's going to be hard for me not to have her around all the time. But she's ready to go. You can tell. She's just a really smart, capable person and she's ready to make her own way."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Michelle Obama 'knocked back' by race perceptions

WASHINGTON, United States - Michelle Obama says she had to fight misperceptions due to her African-American race during the 2008 White House campaign that saw her husband become the first black president of the United States.

The first lady, who grew up in humble circumstances in Chicago and became a successful corporate lawyer, has rarely discussed race during her husband's two terms in office.

But a string of recent cases of alleged abuse of police force against African Americans, and related unrest in Baltimore, made it hard to avoid.

"As potentially the first African-American first lady, I was also the focus of another set of questions and speculations, conversations sometimes rooted in the fears and misperceptions of others," Obama said Saturday.

"Was I too loud or too angry or too emasculating? Or was I too soft, too much of a mom, not enough of a career woman?" she asked in a frank commencement address at historically black Tuskegee University in Alabama.

For the first magazine cover featuring Obama in 2008, The New Yorker parodied her as a radical and a terrorist.

"It was a cartoon drawing of me with a huge afro and a machine gun," she recalled.

"Now, yeah, it was satire, but if I'm really being honest, it knocked me back a bit. It made me wonder just how are people seeing me."

'Sleepless nights'

In an almost half-hour address, she also recalled other racially insensitive comments, including when Fox News television said she was her "husband's crony of color" and "Obama's baby mama" -- the latter US slang for an unwed mother.

"Back in those days, I had a lot of sleepless nights worrying about what people thought of me," Michelle Obama recalled.

"I had to ignore all of the noise and be true to myself -- and the rest would work itself out," she said, winning cheers from graduates.

Aside from mastering details of administration policy, "I also worked to ensure that my efforts would resonate with kids and families -- and that meant doing things in a creative and unconventional way," Obama said.

"So, yeah, I planted a garden, and hula-hooped on the White House lawn with kids. I did some mom dancing on TV... And at the end of the day, by staying true to the me I've always known, I found that this journey has been incredibly freeing."

Frustration, "can feel isolating. It can make you feel like your life somehow doesn't matter. And as we've seen over the past few years, those feelings are real," the first lady added.

"They're rooted in decades of structural challenges that have made too many folks feel frustrated and invisible, and those feelings are playing out in communities like Baltimore and Ferguson and so many others across this country."

But while being a minority in the United States can be tough, she said, it was no reason to lose hope.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sheer fabrics, draped pants, take center stage at NY Fashion Week

NEW YORK - Sheer fabrics, backless dresses, draped pants, slit skirts and pastel gowns were the dominant look as designers presented their spring 2015 collections in New York on Friday.

Taiwanese-Canadian designer Jason Wu, a favorite of First Lady Michelle Obama, featured navy blue solids mixed with greens in shimmery fabrics for a look that was all about beauty and women and sportswear at his downtown Manhattan show.

"This collection was about celebrating women and also the new age of American sportswear," he said about the show, inspired by the "impeccable style" of British actress Charlotte Rampling, best known for her performance in the Nazi-themed 1974 film "The Night Porter."

Along with flowing evening dresses in blacks, whites and umber, Wu, 31, also introduced the calf-leather "Diane" shoulder bag, named for his friend and muse, actress and former model Diane Kruger.

"Accessories are a growing category for our business," Wu told Reuters in an interview.

Wu's business is also growing. Just hours before the show, attended by Anna Winter, Conde Nast's artistic director and former editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, Wu announced that he had sold a majority stake in his brand to InterLuxe, a new fashion platform chaired by his long-term friend Gary Wassner.

Wu decided to do the deal because he felt "like I had the perfect group behind me to take things to the next level," which will include an opportunity to expand in retail and to develop his collection.

InterLuxe is a collaborative venture between New York-based private equity firm Lee Equity Partners and fashion industry executives including Wassner. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Designer Monique Lhuillier played with different dress lengths and incorporated metallics, tulle, sequins, lace and silk crepe in her collection that was inspired by the sunrise.

Known for her bridal gowns, Lhuillier also included shorts, culottes, ankle-grazing trousers, balloon skirts, as well as feminine gowns in a range of pastel colors.

"Spring is all about lightness," Lhuillier said. "I wanted it to be bright, reflective, shimmering, luminous, that is what you are seeing here today," she added in an interview backstage before the start of the show.

Nearly 100 designers will showcase their collections for spring 2015 at Manhattan's Lincoln Center and other venues around the city during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

The semi-annual event, which runs through Sept. 11, attracts thousands of buyers, fashion reporters, celebrities, fashionistas and wealthy customers.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US first lady opens Anna Wintour costume center

NEW YORK -- First Lady Michelle Obama paid glowing tribute Monday to Vogue fashion legend Anna Wintour, as she cut the ribbon on New York's $40-million renovated costume center named in her honor.

Wearing a stunning, green floral dress by the Indian-born Naeem Khan, Obama inaugurated the Anna Wintour Costume Center at a celebrity-studded ceremony at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"The truth is I'm here today because of Anna. I'm here because I have such respect and admiration for this woman, who I am proud to call my friend," Obama said.

The first lady, beloved by the American fashion world for her elegance, said the center would be a source of learning and inspiration for young people interested in the fashion industry.

Hollywood actress Sarah Jessica Parker joined designers Diane von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Stella McCartney and Oscar de la Renta at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Monday night marked the glittering Met ball, or Costume Institute Gala Benefit, hosted by Wintour. It is one of the biggest events in the society calendar for the international jet set.

Although Obama is not expected to attend, some of the biggest stars in fashion, sports and Hollywood are expected to tread the red carpet at the charity event.

The Costume Institute has undergone a two-year renovation and been re-named after Wintour, the British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue and artistic director for publisher Conde Nast.

Wintour has been a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum since 1999 and in her role as benefit chair and fundraiser she has raised around $125 million for its Costume Institute.

The director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas Campbell said the Anna Wintour Costume Center was designed "to accommodate and inspire the next generation."

Historic costume, contemporary fashion

Its inaugural exhibition features another British export to the United States, groundbreaking couturier Charles James, whose work goes on view from Thursday until August 10.

In addition to two exhibition galleries, the center includes conservation facilities, collection storage and a library.

"The new space allows us to rethink our approach to the display of historic costume and contemporary fashion," said Harold Koda, curator in charge.

The Charles James exhibition features 65 of the designer's most notable designs from the 1920s until his death in 1978.

"Charles James considered himself an artist, and approached fashion with a sculptor's eye and a scientist's logic," said Campbell. "The Met is the ideal place to explore the rich complexity of his innovative work."

The main gallery shows off to dramatic effect 15 gorgeous James evening gowns, including the "Butterfly" and "Swan" that date back to the late 1940s and early 1950s.

The dresses float on platforms, lit up under spotlights in the near-dark exhibition hall while animations, text, x-rays, and vintage images explain how each gown was intricately constructed.

James moved to New York in 1940 and is considered one of the greatest haute couture designers in the United Sates.

"Technology will allow us to look at what the eye can't see in fashion -- structure, construction, undergarments, motion, silhouette, and sound-like the rustle of the bustle or the creak of a crinoline," said Andrew Bolton, curator in the Institute.

The Institute has more than 35,000 costumes and accessories in its collection and its library is home to more than 30,000 rare books and periodicals, files, prints, drawings and photographs.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com