高山流水得知音，曲高和寡終落寞
成於第一夫人剪裁，敗於茫茫商場求財
Dressing Mrs. Obama for Success, Then Going Out of Business
By SUSAN SAULNY
蜜雪兒奧巴馬前御用設計師皮瑪麗開口釋其店舖緣何匆匆結業。
The designer Maria Pinto, whose creations were worn by Michelle Obama, opened up about why she abruptly closed.
自芝加哥報導－時裝與政治皆是換季不斷又捉摸不透。而蜜雪兒奧巴馬與本地設計師皮瑪麗的合作將相似的兩者巧妙交融。蜜雪兒那些令人記憶猶新的全國公開亮相便都身著皮瑪麗的作品。
CHICAGO — Fashion and politics are seasonal and unpredictable, yet the two came together quite well here for the hometown designer Maria Pinto and Michelle Obama, whose first memorable bursts onto the national scene were often in Pinto creations.
還記得第一夫人在世界巡演第一晚所穿的那件貼身紫衣麼？或是在民主黨全國大會上的那襲天藍連衣裙？又或前往白宮會見小布殊一家時的那套紅禮服？皮瑪麗一手包辦設計了在這漫漫競選路上一個女人的形象自誕生、成長直到冉冉昇起。
Remember the purple sheath Mrs. Obama wore the night of the fist bump heard round the world? The teal number at the Democratic National Convention? Or the red dress she wore to meet the Bushes on their way out of the White House? Maria Pinto all, designed right here where both women were born and raised and, over the course of one remarkable election, became stars.
自然，當皮女士在其西環精品店櫥窗貼出「清倉甩賣」告示並宣布其芝加哥時裝店關張之際，無數擁躉對此表示難以置信。這間縫紉店之翹楚到底怎麼了？「我已經盡力了。」皮女士在二月中旗下店舖結業之後的首次正式採訪中講到。
So when Ms. Pinto abruptly put up a “closeout sale” sign in the window of her West Loop boutique and announced that she was folding her fashion business, Chicago — and Pinto devotees all over — reacted with disbelief: What in sartorial heaven happened? “I pushed as far as I could,” Ms. Pinto, 53, said in her first lengthy interview since the demise of her store and wholesale operations in mid-February.
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Dressing Mrs. Obama for Success, Then Going Out of Business
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