At a special shopping event at Bergdorf Goodman, Jason Wu showed off his shopping chops, fitting ladies into various dresses and basically affirming that, in the end, good dresses are what sell.
The event was specially organized by American Express for its platinum card members, but Elle's fashion news director Anne Slowey, along with Marcia Cross, were kind enough to stop in and offer their take on why Wu continues to do so well, even though other Obama-favored designers might not. (Indeed, it turns out that Jason Wu's sell-through at Bergdorf Goodman is a whopping 70 percent -- no small feat even for a big-name designer.)
As Slowey put it, Wu isn't "afraid to do pretty." In fact, words like "pretty" and "polished" have become synonymous with Wu's work, which can often be seen by designers as a reason to expand one's repertoire, but it's tough to fault any talent who continually manages to church out the kind of dresses that both First Ladies and real laides all want to wear.
Last night found Wu flitting about the various women trying on his clothes: tugging at shoulders, cooing over a gal in a glittering cocktail dress, and even correcting a salesgirl who'd called one of the clients "full-figured." (Memo to Bergdorf staff: Steer clear of those terms, overall.) Even as we were leaving at 9PM, Wu was still making the final touches on one girl's dress, and a member of his entourage laughed, "He's not going to leave until she gets that dress!"
