Unveiling 'The Look': Michelle Obama discusses fashion and identity in her latest book

Former US First Lady, Michelle Obama, recently released “ The Look”, which is a book that takes fans on a journey of her style and how it evolved from before and after she became the first black First Lady of the US.

It is undeniable that Obama’s style is elegant, classy and also timeless; now, through her book, she takes readers on a photographic journey of how she uses the beauty and intrigue of fashion to draw attention to her message about visibility and representation.

According to the “Michelle Obama Books” website, the book consists of more than 200 photographs, including never-before-seen images and Obama’s explanation of how her style has evolved throughout the years, in her own words for the first time.

Obama was and still is admired for her elegant and classy looks. Many admired that she stayed true to herself and, most importantly, true to her identity as a black woman.

Taking to Instagram in June, she introduced the new book and revealed that through this book, she wants to reclaim her story and share it in her own way.

“During our family’s time in the White House, the way I looked was constantly being dissected - what I wore, how my hair was styled.

“For a while now, I’ve been wanting to reclaim more of that story, to share it in my own way. I’m thankful to be at a stage in life where I feel comfortable expressing myself freely - wearing what I love and doing what feels true to me.”

In addition, during a conversation on her podcast “IMO”, she revealed that she has always had a strategy of how she wanted to approach fashion, but she purposefully chose to wait until she could re-tell her story in her own narrative.

“I think it's time, from a strategic standpoint, my thinking to when I was First Lady was ‘fashion is the monster that ate up New York’.

“It’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s something that I value, I cherish, but I knew that fashion could define me before I defined myself.

“I thought I’ve gotta let me lead and I’ve gotta lead with substance and I know how important fashion is, but if we succumb to that conversation, potentially that’s all I’ll be is the woman in the dress.

“So I thought, let’s put it on the back burner in terms of daily topics, but we always had a strategy of how I want to approach fashion and what fashion could be,” she said.