Oscar de la Renta criticises Michelle Obama

Belinda White from the Telegraphshares: Michelle Obama's wardrobe rarely attracts criticism. America's FirstLady has a style blog, 'Mrs O' , and upcoming book of the same name dedicated to her skill at lookingchic yet practical in the latest designers, and labels have been made or brokenby her patronage (or lack thereof).

But as we all know, when it's allgoing so well, someone always comes along and trashes the party, in this case,the outspoken 'First Lady' of American fashion design, Oscar de la Renta. De laRenta is not happy with Obama's decision to wear not one, but two British baseddesigners - Alexander McQueen by Sarah Burton, and Roksanda Ilincic - duringChinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to the US.

 "My understanding," dela Renta told WWD , "is that the visit was to promote American-Chinese trade -American products in China and Chinese products in America. Why do you wearEuropean clothes?" New York based de la Renta, is quick to deflect theinevitable cries of 'sour grapes' by stressing that he's not personally fussedwhat she wears: "I'm not talking about my clothes, my business. I'm old,and I don't need it. But there are a lot of young people, very talented peoplehere who do," he said.

But what really constitutes anAmerican label these days? De la Renta hails from the Dominican Republic, and agreat number of other designers who show at New York Fashion Week areimmigrants, imports or interlopers (including several British designers such asPreen, Jenny Packham and Victoria Beckham). Ilincic shows her collection inLondon but was born in Serbia. The more diverse a range of designer's MichelleObama chooses to wear the better in my eyes. When the world is watching, anysupport she can give to designers (old and new), surely benefits the fashionindustry as a whole? Come on Oscar, share the love.

Via The Daily Telegraph& Huffington Post.