Ghanaian designer Mimi Plange on dressing Michelle Obama

Ghanaian-American Fashion Designer Mimi Plange says dressing Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States of America for her appearance on a major talk show confirmed her “belief that anything is possible.”

In 2012, Mrs. Obama wore a Mimi Plange dress when she appeared on The View as a special guest.

Plange, who was born in Ghana and raised in San Francisco spoke to the folks at fashionista.com about what it meant to her to have dressed Mrs. Obama.

“Dressing Michelle Obama gave us an immense sense of hope, and confirmed our belief that anything is possible. The honor meant that our clothes could touch great and powerful women and it gave us lasting inspiration that we still pull from today,” remarked Plange.

“We dressed Michelle Obama in the first few years of establishing our brand. She gave us a chance, and it meant everything.”

She also revealed dressing the U.S First lady drew more attention to the brand.

“It made people pay attention and gave us a new voice, almost a tool to be able to tell and share our story with people who automatically wanted to know more. Buyers and editors wanted to know who we were. As an up-and-coming designer, it made your brand credible, right away. People wanted to see what we had to offer, it was a huge honor that became a selling tool.

As far as retail/sales is concerned, it definitely helped us open new national and international accounts and we definitely saw a change in editorial requests. It certainly gives global awareness that emerging brands like us need to compete and grow.”

Mimi Plange launched her own ready-to-wear label in 2010, after a decade working in the New York fashion industry. She is a graduate of the San Francisco Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and holds a degree in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley. She has received acclaim for her work in the fashion industry, winning such accolades as International Emerging Designer of the Year in 2011 at the Mercedes-Benz Africa Fashion Week held inSouth Africa. The year after, she was named Designer of the Year. She also won Mayor Bloomberg’s Design Entrepreneurs Award in New York in 2012. Last year, she took part in the Celebration of Design Event hosted by Michelle Obama at the White House.

Mimi Plange’s designs have been worn by the likes of First Lady Michelle Obama, Vanessa Hudgens, Serena Williams, Rihanna, Paris Hilton, Michelle Trachtenberg and Janelle Monae, and many amazing women across the globe.

Her work has been featured in The New York Times, T Magazine, Vogue.com, Ebony Magazine, Vogue UK, Vogue India, WWD, Harpers Bazar, Marie Claire, Essence, Glamour Magazine, Cosmopolitan, and Nylon Magazine.