Michelle Obama honors her mother, Marian Robinson, with a deeply personal fashion statement

Michelle Obama brought her late mother Marian Robinson into the Obama Presidential Center through a custom skirt with her portrait.

Often, when people describe fashion statements, they refer to a bold-colored bag or an unexpected twist on a classic silhouette. However, this week, former First Lady Michelle Obama reminded us all of the quiet but powerful messages that can be transmitted through clothing. 

During a stakeholder event celebrating the forthcoming grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Michelle brought her late mother, Marian Robinson, into the moment by wearing a custom Acne Studios calf-length pencil skirt that featured a sepia portrait of her mother as a young woman. Michelle and her longtime stylist, Meredith Koop, decided to give Mrs. Robinson this posthumous spotlight, sparking emotional reactions across social media, especially from former President Obama. 

“I got a little teary-eyed tonight thinking about my mother-in-law, Marian Robinson. She made a home for Michelle and Craig here on the South Side of Chicago, not with a lot, but with a lot of love and hope and perspective and wisdom, and her husband, Fraser Robinson, who got up every day and went down right next to Navy Pier, working in the water reclamation district. He showed what it means to work hard and to put family first,” the former President shared. “They represent to me what’s best about this country and what’s best about our values and people who aren’t trying to get every last nickel, and aren’t cutting corners when it comes to values, and treat people high and low with respect and kindness, and handle their business, just salt of the earth, bedrock people.”

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On May 31, 2024, Marian Lois Shields Robinson passed away peacefully in her Chicago home. Known as the beloved first Grandmother during the Obama administration, Robinson was a quiet but important pillar for the Obama family during their time in the White House. 

“At every step, as our families went down paths none of us could have predicted, she remained our refuge from the storm, keeping our feet on solid ground,” the Obamas wrote in a statement reflecting on her legacy. “On Election Night in 2008, when the news broke that Barack would soon shoulder the weight of the world, she was there, holding his hand.” 

Raised as one of seven children on the South Side of Chicago, Robinson experienced the hardships of discrimination but still found beauty in the world. Before becoming a secretary and meeting her husband, Marian studied to be a teacher and raised her two children, Michelle and Craig, to value education. And when her daughter and her husband were gearing up to move into the big white house on Pennsylvania Ave in Washington D.C., Robinson packed her bags to move in with them. 

“We needed her. The girls needed her. And she ended up being our rock through it all,” the former first family shared. “Rather than hobnobbing with Oscar winners or Nobel laureates, she preferred spending her time upstairs with a TV tray, in the room outside her bedroom with big windows that looked out at the Washington Monument.” 

Focused on taking care of grandbabies and the simple things in life, throughout her eight years in the White House, Robinson made it a point to befriend the people who made the place feel like home, from ushers to butlers and everyone in between. 

“She always felt like she was enough,” Michelle wrote of her late mother. “And because she felt like she was enough, she could help others feel that too. She did that countless times for me and my brother Craig. She did it for her family and friends. She did it for the staff at the White House. She did it for everyone she knew.”

And last night, Robinson, who had comfortably sat in the background, watching her kids shine on international stages, had her moment in the spotlight. And even as the family navigates the ups and downs of grief, Michelle explains the way her mother’s presence continues to be her and her family’s north star. 

“We lost my mother a year ago, but somehow, it almost feels like she’s with us more and more each day. I notice it in the way I channel her when I’m giving advice to my daughters, or catching up with my brother Craig, or sitting down for dinner with Barack,” she wrote. “She’s not with us, but she is.” 

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