Black-ish's eighth and final season started with a bang: Michelle Obama made her highly anticipated guest appearance! The former first lady starred on Tuesday night's episode of the ABC sitcom and, unsurprisingly, served up two chic outfits for the special occasion. Michelle's personal wardrobe stylist, Meredith Koop, told POPSUGAR how she took cues from Black-ish costume designer Michelle Cole and gravitated toward bright colors to mimic those regularly worn by the show's main characters, including Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross), Zoey (Yara Shahidi), and Ruby (Jenifer Lewis). She wound up choosing a monochromatic purple suit and cozy colorblock sweater for the Becoming author's two scenes, the former of which was purposefully packed with sentimental meaning.
"I knew this was the one that was going to be the winner."
When Michelle first meets Rainbow and Dre at a When We All Vote fundraiser, she's wearing an all-purple suit custom-made by Sergio Hudson - yes, the same designer responsible for the plum getup she wore to Joe Biden's inauguration. "I thought it would be cool to pay homage to Mrs. O's iconic inauguration look from 2021 with another strong head-to-toe color look by Sergio Hudson," Meredith told POPSUGAR. "I always brainstorm a bunch of options, but I knew this was the one that was going to be the winner, so I just went with it. It was strong, but still had an ease." She added another meaningful touch by accessorizing with a gold medallion necklace by Chicago-based jewelry brand Almasika as a nod to Michelle's birthplace.
Later on in the episode while enjoying dinner at the Johnson house, Michelle dresses down in a cozy JW Anderson sweater Meredith selected for its bold sunset-inspired color palette. She styled it with black Hudson jeans, which have "long inseams to work for her height," and tied together the outfit with twisted gold hoop earrings by Jennifer Fisher, a jeweler she routinely reps. "Ultimately, I wanted her to be super comfortable and feel like herself," Meredith said.
If Michelle's fun sweater and accessories caught your eye on Black-ish, you're in luck: some of the exact pieces she wore are currently still in stock online. Read ahead to shop 'em now and admire the former first lady looking as stylish as ever on screen.