Who is Isabel Toledo?

By The Twirlit Team on March 4th, 2009

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Michelle Obama was gleaming at the Inauguration of her husband, our new President, Barack Obama. The ensemble was a two piece dress and overcoat in the unique and beautiful color of lemongrass. It made me think of Jackie O. My next thought was, who designed it?

The designer is Isabel Toledo. She is a Cuban-born, American designer. She has been in the fashion industry for 25 years.

I think women started to take notice of Isabel Toledo when Michelle Obama wore a black tunic and palazzo pants to a Calvin Klein fund-raiser last year. Toledo didn’t actually design the ensemble specifically for Michelle, because Mrs. Obama bought it at Ikram, a Chicago boutique that sells Toledo.

Toledo was born in Cuba and came to the US at the age of 8. She grew up in West New York and attended Memorial High School where she met her husband, Ruben Toledo. They married in 1984. For the next decade she designed and did many fashion shows, which she does not do anymore.

It’s been noted that Mrs. Obama will strongly favor American designers particularly, because of the trouble with the economy and weak retail sales.

Michelle’s outfit was paired with green gloves by J. Crew and forest green shoes.