Michelle Obama has always known how to make a fashion statement. This time, the message was deeply personal.
During a reception at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago this week, the former first lady stepped onstage in a custom Acne Studios pencil skirt featuring a large portrait of her late mother, Marian Robinson, who died in 2024 at age 86.
Michelle revealed that her husband had no idea what he was looking at — until she told him. "I am so proud of my husband. He's really messed up, I'm giving him some time, because this beautiful skirt that my stylist Meredith Koop picked out, that is a portrait, my favorite portrait of my mom, he didn't know it existed until just a few minutes ago," she said as he became visibly emotional onstage. "I've had a few weeks to settle down in the beauty of this skirt, but it's messing him up for good reason. But Marian would have been so proud."
The sepia-toned design was custom-commissioned and inspired by a runway look from Acne Studios' Fall-Winter 2026 collection, which featured a similar skirt depicting a young man photographed by Dutch artist Paul Kooiker. Michelle styled it with a thin belt, a chocolate brown T-shirt, and slingback pumps, mirroring the original runway look.
The tribute came during a packed weekend of events tied to the Center's grand opening. The day before, Barack and Michelle unveiled their first official joint portrait, "The Obamas: Springing Forth," painted by Nigerian-born artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby — a piece weaving together more than 500 archival images from their lives, including a childhood photo of young Michelle Robinson posing against her father's 1970 Buick Electra.
Michelle has been open about how deeply her mother shaped her. Speaking to a group of young women at the Center over the weekend alongside her brother Craig Robinson and Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson, the former First Lady said, per ABC7 Chicago: "I have lived an amazing life, but the truth is who matters to me, who shaped me, is Marian Robinson from the South Side of Chicago."
The Center has already permanently honored Robinson. In 2024, just weeks before her mother's death, Michelle announced that the Center's "Opening the White House" exhibit — featuring replicas of White House spaces like the Blue Room and South Lawn — would be named in Robinson's honor.
Robinson, born in 1937 and raised on Chicago's South Side, trained as a teacher before working as a secretary. She lived in the White House throughout her daughter's eight years as first lady, famously preferring to keep things simple — once telling family she just needed someone to show her how to work the washing machine.
Michelle closed her remarks at the Obama Center event by speaking about the bond her mother shared with her husband. "She was so proud of her son-in-law, and the man that he is, and has been to our family, always dreaming, probably way too big, but always pulling it off," Michelle said. "Thank you for doing this for the South Side of Chicago. I love you."
The Obama Presidential Center officially opens to the public on June 19.
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