Tracy Reese (born February 12, 1964) is an American

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

who specializes in women's ready-to-wear

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

accessories Accessory may refer to: * Accessory (legal term), a person who assists a criminal In anatomy * Accessory bone * Accessory muscle * Accessory nucleus, in anatomy, a cranial nerve nucleus * Accessory nerve In arts and entertainment * Accessory ...

, and home fashions such as linens. She is a board member of the

Council of Fashion Designers of America The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and headquartered in Manhattan, is a not-for-profit trade association comprising a membership of over 450 American fashion and accessory des ...

, having been inducted in 2007.

Early life

Reese is originally from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and graduated from

Cass Technical High School Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a public high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States.

. She recalls making clothing from scratch while growing up, alongside her mother, while they worked sitting side by side at their own sewing machines. In 1982, she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to pursue her education at

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

. After graduating with an accelerated degree in 1984, Reese worked under

Martine Sitbon Martine Sitbon is a French fashion designer. Biography After spending her childhood in Morocco and a short stay at the Lycée Chateaubriand in Rome (Chateaubriand High School in Rome), the young Martine Sitbon returned to Paris in the early 1960s ...

at the firm Arlequin. She worked at several top fashion design houses, and eventually became head of the Women's Portfolio for

Perry Ellis Perry Edwin Ellis (March 3, 1940 – May 30, 1986) was an American fashion designer who founded his eponymous sportswear house in the mid-1970s. Ellis' influence on the fashion industry has been called "a huge turning point" because he int ...

before launching her own label.

Tracy Reese label

The Tracy Reese fashion label was launched in New York City in 1998. The Tracy Reese label produces both

ready-to-wear Ready-to-wear (or ''prêt-à-porter''; abbreviated RTW; "off-the-rack" or "off-the-peg" in casual use) is the term for ready-made garments, sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothing ...

and resort wear. Plenty (2000) and Frock! (2006) were launched as mass market lines at a more affordable price range. Plenty has a focus on home fashions. Tracy Reese Black Label launched in 2009. Tracy Reese designs are noted for their femininity and retro-influenced style; the textiles themselves make use of bright colors, elaborate graphic patterns, and a playful use of bohemian touches. Clothing and home fashions by Tracy Reese's design lines are carried by retailers such as

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...

Bergdorf Goodman Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is a luxury department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son, Andrew Goodman. To ...

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...

Anthropologie Anthropologie is an American clothing retailer with approximately 200 stores across the U.S., Canada, and the UK that offers an assortment of clothing, jewelry, home furniture, decoration, beauty products, and gifts. Anthropologie is part of ...

, Modcloth, and

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...

. The Tracy Reese flagship store in New York City opened in 2006. In a ''New York Times'' interview on the occasion of the store's five-year anniversary, Reese expressed optimism about current trends continuing to support her design vision: In 2011, a second exclusive Tracy Reese store opened, this one in Tokyo. Reese has a number of celebrity clients, including First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

, who wore Tracy Reese dresses during a

First Family First Family is an unofficial title for the family of a republic's head of state. A first family usually consists of: the head of state, the first spouse and their children. Related terms The term ''second family'' is often used to refer to t ...

visit to Hawaii in 2011/2012, at a ceremony in 2013 commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and on other occasions. The First Lady also wore a custom-made Tracy Reese dress for her 2012 DNC Convention speech.

Collaborations

Reese has several collaborations underway as of 2011, which include: * Tracy Reese for HUE hosiery (Fall 2007 to Present); * Tracy Reese for Sally Hansen (Fall 2007 to Present); * Plenty by Tracy Reese for Keds (Spring 2009 to Present). * Tracy Reese by Jamberry (February 2016 through August 2016) * United Airlines worldwide uniform renewal program (2018–Present; deferred in 2020)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reese, Tracy 1964 births Living people African-American designers American fashion designers American women fashion designers Artists from Detroit Parsons School of Design alumni American fashion businesspeople African-American fashion designers The New School alumni 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women

Early life

Tracy Reese label

Collaborations

See also

References

External links