Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy at the Nato summit arrival ceremony in Strasbourg in April

There is always opportunity in fashion – though sometimes it comes in unexpected guises. Consider, for example, the experience of Mary Tomer, a 28-year-old maths graduate from Boston College who spent two years at a private equity firm before joining the advertising behemoth BBH and, just nine months ago, launching mrs-o.org, a website devoted to all things involving Michelle Obama and style.

Want to know what the First Lady is wearing for the July 4th celebrations? Curious about what she sports each day during the upcoming G8 summit in Italy? Look no further.

Now Tomer has a six-figure book contract, makes the occasional appearance on the Today Show, and over the past six months has seen more than 1.2m visits to her site from 221 countries and territories, with, according to Google Analytics, visitors spending on average two minutes and 56 seconds looking around.

“When we were starting, I thought it would be fun and people would enjoy it – but not so many people,’’ Tomer says. Her fascination with Michelle Obama began at last autumn’s Democratic National Convention, when she heard the ex-lawyer deliver a full speech for the first time. “I was struck by her presence and became captivated by her style.’’ Powerful women often try to project authority in matching power suits, notes Tomer, but not this candidate’s wife, with her penchant for florals and ruffles.

Hoping to find like-minded spirits, Tomer went online but was disappointed. “I was struggling to find a place where women were talking about this,’’ she says; she was certain, though, that she couldn’t be the only one with such wardrobe fascination. Tomer’s subsequent brainstorm led to a proposal that Zag, a division of BBH that creates brands and products, help launch an Obama-centric blog. “They embraced it as a bit of an experiment,’’ she says.

At first Tomer spent early mornings and evenings perfecting her creation; as traffic grew, Zag let her devote 20 per cent of her workday to the site. On election night, traffic hit 18,931 visits, jumping to 35,375 for the inauguration. The Obamas’ European tour generated 36,060 visits a day, according to Google Analytics. In the midst of this, media outlets began coming to Tomer for her insights.

The blog emphasises Mrs Obama’s sartorial talents as a combiner of colours, high and low labels, and famous and obscure designers. Most of the commentary is positive, though some posters confess to not liking her recent mixing of a purple shirt and a green jacket.

In February, BBH signed a book deal with Hachette to turn the blog into a book, with Tomer as author and other BBH experts providing photography and related support. Ben Jenkins, strategy director at Zag, says the blog has created the sort of online community that is brand-building’s dream. No wonder Ms Tomer’s night job is now her day job: she spends all her work time on the blog and the book, which will be published in November.

“I love, love, love working on the blog,’’ she says, noting that she sees her site as the “people’s voice”, a counterpoint to all the static from fashion insiders. And her degree is coming in handy, as she tracks site analytics and prices T-shirts sold on the site. “It’s just”, she notes, “a more enjoyable kind of math.”

Sheila McNulty is the FT’s US energy correspondent

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From pumpkins to polish: Brigitte Lacombe on Michelle Obama

Among those first struck by the appearance of Michelle Obama was the celebrated portrait photographer Brigitte Lacombe.

“I was asked by Vanity Fair to follow Michelle Obama early on in the presidential campaign in 2007, when she didn’t even have bodyguards. It was in New Hampshire and she would go to little events in fields full of pumpkins. As soon as she started to speak, people were riveted; she was very forceful and stunning – so tall and so different, assured and self-confident.

“In the pictures I took she is less polished; that’s the way she was then. It’s like a young actress at the beginning of her career: everything is endearing and then – bang! – she’s getting polished and styled. With an actress, it’s a transformation; in the case of Michelle, it’s just more thought into everyday presentation. Back then she was doing it all herself but she was always conscious about the way she dressed. It was obvious she cared about her appearance, but in her own way; there was no outside intervention.

“I would love to do a true close-up of Michelle; it hasn’t been done. I did one with Hillary Clinton: during the last week of her campaign she gave me an hour, so I asked her to pull her hair back, tone down the make-up, wear no jewellery and a white shirt. That’s what I’m always hoping to do as a photographer; it’s a relief to be able to look into a famous, very photographed face and see the person as themselves.”

Interview by Nicola Copping

Brigitte Lacombe’s latest book is ‘Lacombe: anima/persona’ (Steidl)