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Haute & bothered: A favorite Michelle Obama designer faces off with an ex-staffer at bitter trial

KHAN: Fashion big in legal tangle with ex-staffer. (Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz)

A trial pitting one of Michelle Obama’s favorite fashion designers against a former employee promises a behind-the-scenes look into the notoriously combative world of haute couture.

Indian-born designer Naeem Khan will face off, starting today in Manhattan Supreme Court, against a disgruntled ex-staffer who claims Khan bilked him out of $350,000 in commissions.

Khan, who designed the first lady’s white inaugural gown and dresses top stars from Beyoncé to Lady Gaga, claims Frenchman Lionel Geneste is an ingrate who sued only after being fired in 2006 for not showing up for work.

Khan’s attorney, Edward Hayes, will claim that Geneste has a pattern of dishonesty — including allegedly underreporting his income on tax returns and a 2007 conviction for stealing his boyfriend’s credit card, according to court records.

But Geneste’s attorney, Bernard Daskal, claims Geneste — who trained under Jean Paul Gaultier and Givenchy — was canned because he was “becoming more associated with the Naeem Khan brand than Mr. Khan himself.”

The Frenchman says he was hired to move Khan away from his more matronly tastes and “develop a fashion line that would appeal to a younger audience.”