U.S. first lady Michelle Obama once again wore an evening gown hand-sewn by Taiwan-born fashion designer Jason Wu Jan. 21, making her the talking point of the presidential inaugural ball.
Michelle Obama wore a strapless, backless, red chiffon evening gown for her elegant dance with President Barack Obama.
Jason Wu’s apparel line is one of Michelle Obama’s favorites. She drew world attention when she wore a one-shouldered white gown four years ago at Obama’s first inauguration. She has also worn dresses from Jason Wu’s less expensive Miss Wu range for events on the campaign trail.
Taiwan’s first lady Chow Mei-ching also wore a dress from the Miss Wu range for the 2012 ROC National Day celebrations.
The facts of Wu’s success story are already common knowledge in Taiwan: He was born in Taipei in 1982, decided at five years old he would become a designer, emigrated to Canada at nine, started his design career at 15 and at 18 became the creative director for Integrity Toys flagship Fashion Royalty brand of dolls. At 23 he started his own business and at 27 achieved overnight fame.
Wu has always been interested in fashion. He began by stitching his own dresses for Barbie dolls, then went on to make his own dolls, with his open-minded mother leaving him free to pursue his interest. He did his undergraduate study at New York City’s Parsons School of Design, and in 2006 launched the Jason Wu brand. In 2008 he won the Fashion group International’s Rising Star award, and was nominated for the Vogue Fashion Fund award—but it was Michelle Obama wearing one of his dresses for the inauguration that gave him overnight fame.
Fame has not made Wu forget his roots. During a 2009 TV interview he said he was Taiwanese, that Taiwan was a part of him, and that he was happy to represent his country.
Success has not stopped him from working even harder. In 2012, on returning to his birthplace Taipei, he told a crowd of assembled fans that it was possible to master anything, as long as one devotes at least 10,000 hours to it. (SDH)