Posted on 03/13/2010 7:55:50 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
CHICAGO: US first lady Michelle Obama's favourite city-based designer Maria Pinto is going out of business as sales have waned in a bad economy.
Pinto, whose clientele also includes talk show host Oprah Winfrey, is closing her store Lola Black LLC. In a five-day sale starting here next week, her collection of daywear, eveningwear and accessories would be liquidated at 50-70 per cent off.
Her designs were carried by major stores like Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys and Takashimaya in New York, as well as high-end boutiques across the country, reported Chicago Tribune.
But the designer hit a rough patch after sales to retailers started dwindling. She decided to close her shop and cease wholesale operations in January this year.
Her store Lola Black LLC may also seek bankruptcy protection.
Michelle, who has turned into an icon with her exquisite taste in fashion, had worn Maria Pinto designs to several key events during her husband US President Barack Obama's political career, including the night she spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
Sometimes you can’t sell ugly.
She had a designer?
The other night on the TV show Project Runway this designer was one of the judges.
It looked as if Michelle is the only one who would wear such hideous things anyway.
Must have been the GI Joe utility belts
If you took 70% off one of Michelle's dresses, most of her caboose would be sticking out (and that's if you used the other 30% to cover it)...
The Black Snob writes:
Her name is Maria Pinto (pictured with Michelle above) and she is the woman behind many of the possible First Lady's signature looks. The bell sleeves, the tailored suits, the simple color palettes, all created by a Chicago-based designer who will open her first boutique in the "windy city," June 2008 according to blog "Runway to Retail."
The shop is to be located in the West Loop at 133 N. Jefferson St., neighboring Sepia restaurant. I write this because A LOT of blog traffic has come my way by people desperate to read more about Michelle and her clothes. I thought I was the only one curious, but apparently the chic, simple look Michelle's rocking has folks clamoring for her clothes. So once I got a name it was easy to find out everything you ever wanted know now about the clothes Michelle rocks and the woman behind the designs.
Pinto described her style in Chicago Magazine as, "Feminine with some punch. My signature look for day is always a crazy combination of a great lace skirt or a laser-cut leather skirt, a Diesel T-shirt, and always an inspiring piece of jewelry. This combination lifts my spirits, has comfort and fantasy, and gets me through my day."
So how’s that “hope and change” working out for everyone?
Maybe he just needs a big government bailout.
Guess his job wasn’t included in the 20 million saved. :)
Geez, it’s bigbelly and bigbutt....
What they don’t understand is that when they destroy this country that they hate, the collapse will come down on their own narcissistic heads.
MO required just too much fabric. The overhead costs and man hours for production must have been just too much to handle.
Considering the article is from India, I won't make fun of them. But it's finally safe to say that Michelle Obama's taste in clothes is... HORRIBLE!!!
Michelle has exquisite taste in what kind of fashion? Boob belts?
I especially liked the one that looked like a giant radiator hose clamp.
Miniskirts, hot pants, boob belts... fashion is a fickle business to be in.
I smell a rat. Maybe she is filing for bankruptcy and liquidating her business so she can get a huge government grant?
Since these designers charge ungodly prices for their clothes, it makes one wonder how one of them could go bankrupt so fast? You buy a bolt of fabric, sew up a dress (there’s no expensive embellishments on most of Pinto’s designs), you sell the dress for $10k, and then you sew another one. What’s wrong with that picture? She got tons of free publicity from Oprah and Michelle, got written up in all the columns. You’d think that she’d make enough profit to keep her business going more than a year, even if she had to hire the seamstress and the bolt of cloth cost $200.
Wonder if I could buy some of her material.
I need to reupholster a couch.
I guess it was just a matter of time for this to happen. I don’t see anything appealing in those designs.
The article is actually from Chicago — it just ran in something called the Economic Times which is a sub publication of the India Times. It’s datelined Chicago.
“...(and that’s if you used the other 30% to cover it)...
....’er, if you used the other 30% to TRY to cover it?
Well it sounds like the recession has hit the horse blanket industry.
I stand corrected.
I figure once people saw the crap he designed on Michelle, he couldn’t sell any of it. On another subject, they just had a big earthquake in Indonesia. Maybe God is trying to tell the Obamas something.
Actually, that is one of the nicest things I’ve seen her wear. No boob belt in sight, and she looks good in it. However, it’s not new or interesting.
I know just the place to handle such a job. The truck tarp shop. They can cover a 40+ ft. trailer!
This is just a trap! ;^)
The bait is so tempting too! It’s almost too easy!
There are so many things that come to mind immediately, and none of them very kind.
So rather than say something mean and sarcastic, I’ll just keep it to myself.
(biting my tongue till it bleeds) :^p
If only the Congress had passed Obamacare, he'd have already been in Indonesia...sarc/off
Now I have to go to Confession.
Ping Michelle Obama Fashion List
Did he invent the boob belt?
I don’t think so. I think MO invented that herself. Actually, Maria Pinto’s designs are some of the best that MO has worn. Clean, simple, solid colors, no frou frou.
The dress is a pretty color, but it’s really nothing more than a party dress. A ripple, not a wave, of fashion.
Maria Pinto 2009 Spring Collection
The Obama’s sure have the Midas touch, don’t they?
I don’t know about other ladies, but if my hair was looking like that (and my clothes too), I’d be running AWAY from the camera.
The woman who does my hair would probably get a hernia laughing at that ‘do.
The arm holes on that turquoise number are the hugest I have ever seen other than on tee shirts with the sleeves ripped off. Worn by men!
I guess,but it is kinda funny one of her dressmakers going bankrupt..
How is all that hope and change stuff working out.:)
Nodding.
With the state-run media still forcing the meme that Michelle Obama is the second coming of Jackie O, you’d think she’d have some coattails in the fashion industry. But, no, her favorite designer is going bankrupt a year into the Obama administration.
It should be clear to anyone who can relate cause to effect, that Michelle Obama’s look is neither admired nor sought after. The bankruptcy of Maria Pinto amply demonstrates this. But, we’re dealing with socialists and their propaganda organ, so all logic flies out the window, in matters as trifling and symbolic as a First Lady’s clothing, or as pressing as the unwanted socialization of healthcare or skyrocketing unemployment.
My grandmother always said “ugly is as ugly does” and Michelle O does ugly better than ANY First Lady ever has. It’s not really about what she wears, it’s the ‘tude that goes with it.
That is the first picture of M. Obama I have SEEN where I thought she had on a nice outfit.
Very pretty dress!
If you look closely, there IS a boob belt stitched in that dress. Maybe where she got the craving from.
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