A model displays a creation, bearing the image of U.S. President Barack Obama, during Italian fashion house Gattinoni's Rome Fashion Week Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2009 show February 1, 2009.

Mania¹ over President Barack Obama has reached the catwalks of Rome, where a top haute couture designer showed off a kaftan emblazoned with his face and another dedicated² a gown of "hope" to his wife Michelle.

"I was in Times Square when he was elected and it was like just such a beautiful emotion. I had the sensation of flying," Guillermo Mariotto, who designed the kaftan for Roman fashion house Gattinoni, told reporters.

"He's definitely a fashion icon³. He's brand new, he's a black president, and he's so handsome."

Mariotto sent an American model down the catwalk draped in the ankle-length, long-sleeved kaftan made of natural fiber⁴. It featured a solemn-faced Obama in red and beige across its entire length and the word "Change" written across the bottom.

Neapolitan designer Fausto Sarli on Saturday dedicated the jewel of his collection -- a pinkish gown studded with crystals and lavish⁵ swirls⁶ -- to U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, saying it represented a light in the desert.

"We dedicated this as a message of hope -- that she can bring hope in the world during this period of crisis," said Sarli's spokesman Carlo Alberto Terranova. "It's a homage⁷ to the audacity⁸ of hope and youth."

美国总统奥巴马的热潮都刮到了罗马时装周上。一位高级时装设计师展示了一件印有奥巴马头像的土耳其长衫，另外一位设计师则专为奥巴马夫人米歇尔打造了一件带有“希望”寓意的礼服。

带有奥巴马头像的土耳其长衫出自设计师Guillermo Mariotto之手，是专为罗马加帝诺尼时装秀设计的。他在接受记者采访时说：“奥巴马当选总统时，我在时代广场，当时的感觉美妙极了，我简直有种飞的感觉。”

“他绝对是位时尚偶像。他给人一种全新的感觉，他是位黑人总统，他太帅了。”

Mariotto设计的这件土耳其长衫由一位美国模特展示，长衫垂至脚踝，袖子较长，由天然纤维制成。衣服上的奥巴马头像表情严肃，颜色以红色和米黄色为主，头像占据了整件衣服，在衣服的底摆处还饰有“Change”的字样。

来自那不勒斯的设计师Fausto Sarli于上周六将他设计的一件珍品——饰有水晶和螺形图案的粉色礼服献给了美国第一夫人米歇尔•奥巴马，并称这件礼服象征沙漠中的一束光。

Sarli的发言人卡洛•艾伯特•特兰诺瓦说：“我们是借此表达一种希望——希望在全球经济危机时期她能给全世界带来希望。这是在向无畏的希望和青春致敬。

Vocabulary:

audacity:大胆；胆识