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Michelle Obama's Watanabe Cardigan Blows Everyone's Minds

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Image of Obama with Gursharan Kaur, wife of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, via <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&amp;address=132x8314263">Democratic Underground</a>
Image of Obama with Gursharan Kaur, wife of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, via Democratic Underground

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We will admit that we scoffed when we read the All the Rage headline "Michelle Obama's Edgiest Fashion Statement Yet." Obama might be the most stylist First Lady we've had in decades, but she's still the president's wife on a trip to Europe, where her job is mostly not to embarrass us as a nation. How edgy could she be? Was she wearing, like, Comme des Garcons? But then we skimmed down the page, saw the words "Junya Watanabe," and understood.

Watanabe hails from a long tradition of wacky Japanese design—he actually did work for Comme des Garcons in the nineties. His asymmetrical cardigan, which Obama wore to the Royal Opera House last night, is so complicated that it's practically Cubist. If nothing else, wearing it was a bold move simply because it could easily provoke the malicious rumor that Americans can't handle buttoning their own sweaters. (To fully appreciate the sweater, check out Democratic Underground's many, many photos.) Basically, what we have here is evidence that the first lady is a hipster. And we think we're OK with that.
· Michelle Obama's edgiest fashion statement yet [LAT]
· PHOTOS Michelle at the Opera (Updated) [Democratic Underground]