First Lady Michelle Obama used the White House this afternoon to host a "Fashion Education Workshop." When she addressed the various students involved in the East Room, she talked up the the importance of the industry.
"Now, when it comes to the fashion industry, so often people think it’s all about catwalks and red carpets and 'who wore it best,' and whether some famous person wore the right belt with the right shoes –- like I’d know what that’s like," she said to laughter from the audience. "But the truth is that the clothes you see in the magazine covers are really just the finished product in what is a very long very complicated and very difficult process, as I’ve come to learn working with many designers."
And she made the point that fashion is part of the American economy:
What most people don’t realize is that there are so many different aspects to this industry. Whether it’s business marketing or technology and manufacturing, even agriculture that produces the wool and the cotton that ultimately becomes our clothes, it’s a big, complicated industry. The industry is also a huge contributor to this economy. Last year alone, Americans spent more than $350 billion on clothing and footwear, and about 1.4 million American workers are employed annually by retailers and others in the fashion industry -- so a lot of jobs, a lot of income that is generated by many of the people who are sitting in this room. But for so many of you –- whether you’re already in the industry or aspiring to be there some day -– I know that in the end, fashion is really about passion and creativity. Just like music or dance or poetry, it’s what drives you. It’s what gets you out of bed each morning. It’s what you write about in essays in school and what you read about in the news. It occupies every ounce of your daily lives. I know this because with creative people, that’s what their passion does -- it makes everything else worthwhile. Fashion is about so much more than just a pretty pair of pumps or the perfect hemline. For so many people across the country, it is a calling, it is a career, and it’s a way they feed their families. So that’s why we thought it was important to bring the industry to the White House, and to share it with all of you who are coming up in the next generation.
Later, she told the story of Spanx, and talked up the product to the crowd. "Just take Sara Blakely, for example. After she graduated from college, Sara worked at Disney World, buckling in people into their seats for the rides -- dag, Sara. (Laughter.) Sara did that for a while, and then she went on to sell fax machines for an office supply company. And then she got this idea, and she took a risk -- she devoted her entire savings, $5,000, to start her own company," she said.
"She spent two years planning and researching her new business ideas in the nights while she was still selling fax machines. She pitched her idea to factories and mills, asking them to help her make the product a reality, and of course, she was turned down again and again and again. But finally, a manager at a factory liked her idea, and today, 14 years later, Sara’s idea, Spanx, is a multibillion-dollar company with products selling in more than 50 countries. (Applause.) And we all wear them with pride. (Laughter.)"