Meet Michelle Obama Dress Designer, Maria Pinto..

Though she is not Mrs. Obama's exclusive dressmaker, Ms. Pinto, a designer known for luxuriant evening wear, is a favorite of Mrs. Obama, who wore buzzed-about Pinto creations when her husband announced his candidacy and on the night of the notorious fist-bump before his speech claiming the Democratic nomination, among other occasions.

....She met Mrs. Obama a few years ago through a friend. "Michelle came in just like everyone else and said: 'I need a few dresses. I need a suit for work,' " Ms. Pinto said.

As Mrs. Obama’s fashion presence has risen, so has that of Ms. Pinto, a former Geoffrey Beene assistant. After 16 years in the business, she opened her first boutique Tuesday night in the arty West Loop, near downtown Chicago. Was the timing fortuitous?

Ms. Pinto said the shop was in the works for at least a year. “We’re not Balenciaga, we’re not Gucci,” she said, “so it’s great that there are women that are free thinkers that come to us and help us establish the brand.”  [Source, Source]