Tracy Reese has been a Black designer at the forefront of the inclusivity movement in fashion long before it was a trend. From rocking the retail space to premiering consistently at NYFW, Reese is notably the only Black designer who has dominated on the runway and in retail. After 20 years in the industry, originally launching her business in 1998, the designer took a hiatus last spring, leaving consumers wondering if she was ever going to return. Now back with her new line, Hope For Flowers, Reese is continuing the conversation of sustainable fashion and, more important, Black women in sustainable fashion.
Brands like Eileen Fisher and Cuyana have gotten rave reviews for pushing sustainability in the fashion industry, while Black-owned brands that have been equally pushing this movement are often ignored. “The more I learned about fast fashion and cheap production in general, I just knew that was the antithesis to everything I was thinking about,” she told Vogue. “If you’re selling a garment for $10, let’s just do the math and understand what that means for all the people along that supply chain. It’s like slavery. I knew I didn’t want anything to do with that, so it made me get really serious about what I did want.”
Based in her hometown of Detroit, the designer is also producing her new line in a small factory in Flint, Michigan, which is noted for employing women who want to learn new skills and reenter the workforce. Launching just last week, Hope For Flowers partnered exclusively with Anthropologie for the first collection. You can now shop the new partnership here or in stores.