Michelle Obama's Latest Fashion Statement

By Jackie Burns Sympatico/MSN Shopping Contributor

Style icon Michelle Obama's latest fashion statement: Just say no to fur! On the heels of French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's announcement to PETA that she no longer wears real fur, Obama made her own animal-friendly declaration, the Washington Times reports. "Mrs. Obama does not wear fur," her deputy press secretary, Semonti Mustaphi, said Thursday. PETA didn't waste any time embracing the news. "For Michelle Obama, respecting animals is obviously part of the social progress that she and her husband are working so hard to promote," PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews said. "By officially rejecting fur, these two style icons will make people everywhere see fur for what it is: old-fashioned and cruel." Despite graduating from Princeton and Harvard Law and having a successful career working for the Chicago mayor and the University of Chicago Medical Center, it seems all that really matters now is what the First Lady is wearing - or in this case - not wearing. Jason Wu, the young Canadian designer of Obama's white inaugural gown and the magenta dress she wears in Vogue, credits her with reinvigorating the industry. "In her own way, she is like a stimulus package for the fashion industry," Wu has said. If she has as many fashion followers as we're led to believe, then it could be the final nail in the coffin for the fur industry, which was already on its death bed. On the flip side, expect a vertical line in faux fur sales.

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