The real winners of the Cameron-Obama mutual backscratching session in Washington this week were not the politicians but the independent, sometimes downright obscure, London-based designers that Samantha Cameron showcased on the trip.
One who can expect to reap the benefit of the Michelle versus Sam style stand-off is Alessandra Rich, a 41-year-old Italian with no fashion training who started her label only two and a half years ago. Hitherto, she has been known only to the fashion cognoscenti and has been operating beneath the radar from her studio in the basement of her husband Steven Rich’s art gallery in Mount Street, Mayfair.
Rich was watching the news when footage of the Prime Minister’s wife arriving for the state dinner at the White House was flashed on the screen. Mrs Cameron emerged from her limousine in a floor-length, A-line black and royal blue lace dress embroidered with silver thread and laced with Swarovski crystals. It was from Rich’s spring/summer 2012 collection and will retail for more than £3,000.
“I was speechless,” Rich confesses. “I was watching specially because she came in to borrow a dress from me and I wondered if this was what it was for. I don’t know how she heard of me. She just took the one dress and she was extremely vague about what she wanted it for. She just said she needed it for her visit to the States. It was a fantastic surprise when I saw her. It’s so exciting.”
One of the things that particularly pleased the former property developer, who was brought up in the Veneto region of Italy, was that Mrs Cameron “wore the dress correctly, with the bow tie. There’s always a fun part in all my pieces and in the Samantha Cameron one, it was the necktie.”
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Is it possible that the PM’s wife was having a quiet dig at the formality of the event with her quirky, deceptively prim gown? It certainly made Michelle Obama’s sombre Marchesa number look stuffy. “It’s funny that they were both wearing blue,” muses Rich. “I wonder if they had a conversation beforehand. They were certainly very different dresses.”
Rich should probably start upping production: the green Burberry dress Mrs Cameron wore to the royal wedding sold out within days. Despite having had four children, she looks as slender and strong as Kate Middleton, and dresses more stylishly. She also possesses a pair of very shapely ankles.
Other likely beneficiaries of this official visit will be Victoria Beckham (Mrs Cameron sported a very neat plum-coloured dress with contrasting collar by the designer formerly known as Posh Spice) and Roksanda Ilincic, a former model from Serbia-Montenegro who has been a London-based designer for the past 13 years.
Mrs Cameron wore two Ilincic designs on the three-day trip: a £455 Otto T-shirt in shocking pink that made Mrs Obama’s frilly yellow L’Wren Scott shirt and embroidered cardie look frumpy; and a Beatrice dress in greens and blues (£855). In this instance, the items were bought, not borrowed, and Ilincic is clear about why Mrs Cameron chose them.
“She’s seeking a wardrobe that lets her subtly stand out in a crowd,” the designer explains. “I’m sure it will have a positive impact. She’s a beautiful ambassador for the brand and people will look to emulate her style.”
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Though even Sam Cam may have a hard job extending her fashion magic to the clumpy black Next shoes she wore with her Alessandra Rich dress.