The Audacity of Cloak

There is no doubt that the Obamas are fashionable. Some have compared Michelle Obama to style icon Jackie Onassis. After it was revealed that Sasha and Malia were wearing J. Crew outfits during the inauguration, the company's Web site crashed because of too many users. Now, the president himself IS fashion.

Italian fashion designer, Guillermo Mariotto, debuted his latest creation, a caftan emblazoned with the face of Barack Obama and the word "Change" across the bottom, at a high fashion event in Rome, Saturday.

"I was in Times Square when he was elected and it was like just such a beautiful emotion. I had the sensation of flying," Guillermo Mariotto, who designed the caftan for Roman fashion house Gattinoni, told Reuters.

"He's definitely a fashion icon. He's brand new, he's a black president, and he's so handsome."

Another designer, Fausto Sarli, dedicated the jewel of his collection to Michelle Obama. The gown, pinkish and studded with crystals and lavish swirls, represents a light in the desert, said Sarli.

"We dedicated this as a message of hope — that she can bring hope in the world during this period of crisis," said Sarli's spokesman Carlo Alberto Terranova. "It's a homage to the audacity of hope and youth." 

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