It’s obvious first lady Michelle Obama is the first lady of fashion in D.C., but who comes in No. 2?
For designer and former “Project Runway” contestant Nick Verreos, the answer is obvious: Rima Al-Sabah, wife of Kuwaiti Ambassador Salem Al-Sabah, who frequently looks glamorous on the pages of Washington’s lifestyle magazines.
“She’s elegant; I’ve seen her in Alexander McQueen, I’ve seen her in a lot of beautiful, really high-end fashion,” Verreos told Yeas & Nays.
The designer said he and the ambassador’s wife were introduced during inauguration.
“She was fabulous,” he added, saying he’d love to design something for her.
Verreos spent Wednesday night at the Corcoran Gallery of Art discussing his success in the fashion industry and his love for Washington. Turns out the two are interrelated. The son of a diplomat who has ties to the District, Verreos studied political science and international relations at the University of California at Los Angeles before doing an about-face and enrolling in the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising.
While he now designs for such stars as Eva Longoria Parker and Heidi Klum, he hasn’t let go of that inner wonk.
“I can’t stop watching all the political shows,” he said, adding he watches BBC World News and reads The Huffington Post. “I don’t even look at Vogue anymore, that’s what this town is doing to me.”
And like every other designer on the planet, Verreos would love to get a certain call from a certain someone.
“It would be wonderful if Desiree Rogers ‘cwalled’ me,” he said.
On Obama, he pictured one of his black, long, sequined gowns or a mermaid-shaped scarlet number. But so far Verreos hasn’t been tapped by the White House.
“We’ll be fine,” he said. “I’ll probably have a call from Mrs. Salahi.”
