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1.25.2009

jason who?

The minute First Lady Michelle Obama stepped out onto the stage at the Inaugural Ball, up-and-coming 26-yesar-old fashion designer Jason Wu became a household name: The Spotlight Finds Jason Wu.

Even to a guy like me, a fashion know-nothing, he's suddenly a name to watch. It's not as though he came out of nowhere -- Wu was already apparently building a reputation as something of a fashion darling. But by Wednesday morning, everybody was talking about Jason Wu and The Dress.

The funny thing is, Wu actually found out with the rest of us what the new first lady was wearing on inauguration night. He had never met her, nor did he know that the design he had submitted to Mrs. Obama, last November, was being seriously considered. Then, boom, the white chiffon dress changed his life.