Michelle Obama made the brave choice of wearing red Alexander McQueen to the state dinner held to welcome the Chinese president—and everyone has an opinion. Oscar de la Renta chimed in, saying he didn’t get her decision to forgo an American designer, and now the CFDA is lashing out, saying, “Our First Lady Michelle Obama has been wonderful at promoting our designers, so we are surprised and a little bit disappointed not to be represented for this major state dinner.”

The First Lady has become instrumental to the success of brands, from Jason Wu to Narciso Rodriguez, but let’s not forget that she has sported non-American designers before, eschewing her compatriots for the figure-flattering work of Azzedine Alaïa. With its bold red statement, the McQueen dress was clearly meant to honor her Chinese guests, and frankly we should be grateful that we have a public political figure who knows her Michael Kors from her Marc Jacobs from her Alexander McQueen.