Michelle takes designer Thakoon from insider favorite to fashion sensation; debuts at Target 12/28

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: The Obama effect on Thakoon Panichgul
When she went on TV at the Democratic convention wearing one of his dresses, prospective first lady Michelle Obama put the designer in the spotlight.
By Booth Moore, Times Fashion Critic
September 21, 2008



NEW YORK -- New York designer Thakoon Panichgul went from being an insider favorite to a fashion sensation when Michelle Obama wore his rose print shift dress the night her husband accepted the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last month.

And Panichgul didn't even know it was coming. "I saw her on TV and I couldn't even look, I was so embarrassed from being excited," he said at his Tribeca studio, days after his Spring runway show. "This industry is so small that when you see something on this level, it's a different story."

Turns out, Obama has been a fan of the up-and-coming talent for several seasons, shopping for his collection at renowned Chicago fashion boutique Ikram.

Although the store's owner, Ikram Goldman, wouldn't comment on the potential first lady, she confirmed that her store will stock the dress from the pre-Spring collection, officially named the acid floral radzimir kimono dress, for $1,250. "What I love about Thakoon is that he's always made wearable clothes," she says. "The collection is always of-the-moment but complementary to a wardrobe, and it ranges in appeal from young girls to mommies to businesswomen."

It's not as if Panichgul, 33, came out of nowhere. In business four years, he's been gaining traction the last few seasons....

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(O)n Dec. 28 he'll debut a limited-edition collection for Target. "They really let you do what you do. They want individuality from designers," he says of Target. "And when I go home to Omaha and talk to people who are not in fashion, they always ask when I'm going to do Target. They see that as making it."...

http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-thakoon21-2008sep21,0,1553507.story