Cuban origin American fashion designer Isabel Toledo, famous for creating dresses for former first lady Michelle Obama, died of breast cancer on August 26 at the age of 59. The news of her death was communicated through an email by her studio. Toledo was a designer who thought ahead of her time and was the hand Michelle's lemon grass-colored sheath dress alongside a complementing overcoat that she wore at Barack Obama's presidential inauguration ceremony in the year 2009. 

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Claim to fame

Toledo displayed her first set of the collection in the year 1985, but recognition came her way when she designed Michelle's outfit. Michelle had been an admirer of the Cuban origin designer long before she wore a dress made by her. Debi Mazar, Debra Messing, and Demi Moore are among the list of celebrities who have donned Toledo's creations both on and off the screen. 

Born in Cuba in 1961, Toledo migrated to the United States of America, New Jersey and went on to attend the fashion college in New York but couldn't graduate. She quickly gained popularity within the fashion fraternity for her unique way of working and in an interview dating back to 1989 she said: "I am in love with the skill of needlecraft". Toledo was a standalone designer who preferred museum exhibitions rather than runaway shows. She held the position of a creative director for Anne Klein for one year from 2006-2007 and also collaborated with Payless, an international footwear chain, to design shoes that were counted as one of her accessories projects. 

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Toledo and her way with art

Much confusion ensued when people got down to guessing the color of Michelle Obama's dress in 2009. Many wrote and tried to describe it by asking: Was it yellow or Apple green? but Toledo termed it as "Lemon Grass" referring it to a type of grass grown in areas clouded with a tropical climate and lemon-scented greenery. 

Toledo added that she gave favored colors that were "non-colors". She said, "The thought behind the coat appeared gold to a few pale yellow to a few others, provides that moment which you happen to witness with a lot of depth". "It gives the person wearing a dress an experience that is personalized".

Michelle Obama's 2009 outfit was her moment of glory and during an interview, she said: "There is nothing more unreal as compared to this moment". In her interview also said," It's not all about what Michelle is wearing but what the moment represents and what the world experiences". 

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(With inputs from AP)