Michelle Obama Opens up About Fashion and Freedom in New Book “The Look”

After years of deflecting the frenzy around her outfits, Michelle Obama is finally telling her style story. The former first lady will release The Look on Nov. 4, a photo-rich coffee table book co-written with her longtime stylist Meredith Koop that traces how she used clothing as a tool of message and meaning from the campaign trail to the White House and beyond.

In a new interview, Obama says she avoided speaking publicly about fashion during her eight years in the White House because she feared it would “take over everything.” Now, with distance, and grown daughters Malia (27) and Sasha (24), she’s ready to reflect on the choices behind the looks.

“With each decade, I’ve grown wiser… This version of Michelle probably cares less about what other people think,” she told People.

The book published by Crown/Penguin Random House, features more than 200 images and contextual essays on how Obama deliberately spotlighted inclusion in American fashion by wearing young, women, and immigrant-American designers.

“I really thought about what I wanted to say with my fashion… inclusion, diversity, opening up opportunities,” she said on Good Morning America.

Obama also revisits formative influences: weekend viewings of Soul Train, a father who insisted she “stand straight” at 5’11”, and the pressures of being the first Black first lady under an intense public gaze. Today she relishes practical autonomy, including the “freedom” of braids, a protective style she now wears unapologetically.

“Braids allow me… one less thing that I have to think about,” she said, adding that the choice is both personal and symbolic.

The Look follows Obama’s bestsellers Becoming and The Light We Carry and lands as she embraces a more open conversation about identity, aging, and self-expression. Retail listings confirm the Nov. 4, 2025 publication date, with signed editions also planned.