Move over Mobama, catch you later Carla, sayonara Sam Cam – there’s a new First Lady fashion icon on the scene. Peng Liyuan, wife of the new Chinese president Xi Jinping, has become a surprise style sensation with her native fashion bloggers and style commentators around the world on her first official state visit.

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Disembarking from her private plane in Moscow on Friday, Peng, 50, chose an elegant black double-breasted belted coat and ladylike handbag by Chinese fashion label Exception; a look which, teamed with her neatly pinned-up hair, fresh-faced make-up and understated accessories, wouldn’t have looked out of place in the front row at Paris Haute Couture Week.

“First ladies are ambassadors of the culture and the design and of the soft power of a country. I’m glad that she chose to wear Chinese and take up that role of spokesperson for Chinese design here,” said Hong Huang, publisher of the fashion magazine iLook and one of the most popular microbloggers in China.

“It’s the first time that China’s first lady appears like a modern woman. I think she dressed very well, with taste and confidence,” said Zhang Yu, editor of China’s Vogue magazine. “After so many years, we finally have a first lady who can represent us so appropriately. I think it is a landmark event.”

Online retailers have sought to associate their products with what news portals are terming the “Peng Liyuan style,” with searches for those key words resulting in lists of handbags and trench coats, many of which did not even resemble the items she wore. Heavy online traffic to Exception’s website has caused it to crash since Friday, with it loading only sporadically on Monday. Liyuan was a household name in China long before her husband rose to power earlier this month, as one of the nation’s best-known singers who starred in the nation’s annual New Year’s television extravaganza for several years.

Although widely expected to boost husband Jinping’s popularity due to her star quality, in a country where political figures are more frumpy than fashionable and wives usually shy away from the spotlight, she was not expected to be making headlines for her fashion sense.

Chatter about her winning personal style quickly spread globally with U S newspaper’s comparing her to Michelle Obama (both have daughters and are only a year apart in age), though we think her ladylike style is more reminiscent of ex-First Lady of France, Carla Bruni. Further fuelling the hype, Liyuan, who is also a United Nations ambassador for health, joined her husband on a visit to Africa on Sunday, touching down at Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam sporting another ‘on trend’ look comprising a crisp white skirt suit, coordinating handbag and peep-toe crocodile court shoes.

— The Telegraph