Michelle Smith

Michelle Smith (born ) is an American fashion designer. From 2000 to 2019, she was the designer at Milly, a contemporary womenswear line she cofounded. In 2020, she launched a new direct-to-consumer brand called Michelle Smith, for which she will design two collections annually.

Smith designed the gown First Lady Michelle Obama selected to wear in her official portrait for the National Portrait Gallery by Amy Sherald.

Early life Born in , Michelle Smith grew up in Connecticut, New Jersey and Ohio, the daughter of a factory plant manager father and stay-at-home mother. Raised in Mount Holly, New Jersey, Smith attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School, graduating in 1990. She next interned at Louis Vuitton, also in Paris, and then enrolled at the French fashion school ESMOD. who later became the cofounder of Smith's own brand. In 1998 Smith moved to contemporary brand Helen Wang. Discussing the line in 2018, fashion critic Robin Givhan characterized Milly as "not a rarefied brand. While it's designer driven, it's rooted in American sportswear and with cocktail dresses priced at $850 or so, it falls into the fashion category of affordable luxury: aspirational, but not impossible."

At its peak, Milly grossed about $50 million annually. Smith had worked with Obama and her stylist Meredith Koop previously, including for an Essence cover shoot, and pulled the dress from production when Koop expressed interest, so that the design could remain unique to Obama. was likely the one Obama would wear for the sitting, but the final wardrobe decision wasn't revealed until the portrait's unveiling ceremony.

In 2019, Smith and Oshrin sold Milly to apparel company S. Rothschild & Co.

After Milly In 2020, Smith launched a direct-to-consumer fashion brand called Michelle Smith. She plans to design two collections annually.

Personal life

Smith's partner is celebrity SoulCycle instructor and author Stacey Griffith. Smith was previously married to Andrew Oshrin, with whom she built Milly. Married in 2003, they had two children together before separating in 2017 and divorcing in 2019.