NEW YORK. Feb 11: The American First Lady Michelle Barack Obama is the cover girl for iconoclast fashion magazine ‘Vogue’ in its March edition . Vogue was quick to point out that it’s for the second time that an American First Lady had taken the place of a model on a Vogue cover — the other was Hillary Clinton in 1998.

Mrs Obama, who was photographed wearing outfits she chose herself, told the magazine she is aware her wardrobe is under scrutiny.

“I’m not going to pretend that I don’t care about it. But I also have to be practical,” she told the magazine.

Annie Leibovitz photographed Mrs Obama wearing a magenta silk dress designed by Jason Wu for the cover portrait.

It is the second time she has chosen to wear one of his creations for a high-profile public appearance. She wore a long white gown by Wu for the inauguration balls on Jan 20.

In the fashion world, Mrs Obama’s sense of style has proved influential.

On the day she dressed her family in clothes from J Crew for her husband’s inauguration, the company’s shares leapt 10 per cent.

In the interview for Vogue, Mrs Obama also talked about her role as a social hostess.

“We want entertaining in the White House to feel like America, that we are reminded of all the many facets of our culture. The Latino community, the

Asian-American community, the African-American community... hip-hop, spoken word — we want to bring the youth in, for them to hear their voices in this,” she said.