5 posts tagged "Tracy Reese"
Each In Her Own Way: A Conversation With Women Designers
On Friday afternoon, Tracy Reese (left), Maria Cornejo (center), and Suno’s Erin Beatty (right) assembled for “One of a Kind: Individuality, Integrity, and Innovation in Fashion,” a panel discussion hosted by Style.com’s own executive editor Nicole Phelps as part of the 14th annual Initiatives in Art & Culture fashion conference. The three designers touched upon topics ranging from social media to personal time management to dressing Michelle Obama, which each speaker has crossed off her bucket list. Of the latter matter, Reese (who most recently outfitted the First Lady for her Democratic National Convention appearance) said, “That evening was huge for my business, but people kept talking about the dress and I was like, what about her amazing speech?”
The designers are all keenly aware of the pressures facing working women—i.e., those without the time for several outfit changes a day. “Wearing the same thing all day long is the definition of a modern woman,” Beatty opined. “With social obligations in the evening, you get up at 6:45 a.m. and go until midnight. You change your shoes and put on lipstick, and that’s it,” Cornejo said. “I keep a curling iron in my desk,” chimed in Reese, “and assume our customers’ days are just as busy.”
The Internet cropped up as both a positive and a negative. With new collections posting instantly online, Cornejo said, “It’s very hard for anything to feel surprising anymore.” Reese concurred. “It’s difficult to focus the customer on what’s available in stores now because she’s thinking about what’s next. By the time the clothes hit stores months after the show, they’ve already been so exposed on the Web.”
But ultimately, that pressure to keep going back to the well is what drives the designers forward. “It’s indescribable how empty you feel right after a show,” Beatty said, “but that’s what makes us do it again every season.”
The Beckham Holiday Card Fiasco, The Latest Kloss Shoot, Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring ’12 Campaign, And More…
David and Victoria Beckham are not pleased that their Christmas card, featuring their kids Brookyln, Romeo, and Cruz (photographed by Daddy), has leaked on the internet. Representatives for the Beckham family have asked several publications to take the card down. [Page Six]
Karlie Kloss is on fire. One of the model’s latest projects was posing for Hedi Slimane’s Vogue Nippon shoot for the February issue. This time around, she’s clothed. [Styleite]
Designer Tracy Reese has teamed up with Fashion Fights Cancer on a limited-edition tote bag ($40). One hundred percent of the proceeds from sales of the bag, available at Tracyreese.com, go to FFC. [WWD]
Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring ’12 campaign, spearheaded by Monica Bellucci, has just been released. The images, featuring a beautiful bunch of Italians, were inspired by the likes of Sophia Loren, Monica Vitti, and Anna Magnani. [Racked]
BMW + Mercedes Fashion Week Showdown. Vroom.
There’s always been room for boy toys at fashion week, but is there room for Mercedes-Benz and BMW? This weekend, the two automakers are duking it out with back-to-back fashion parties. BMW has pulled a fast one by hosting its own event tonight, the night before Mercedes’—the official sponsor—kickoff at Shang (which will feature a performance by the Virgins and a $300,000 limited-edition SL65 sitting pretty outside). Tonight, BMW is toasting the new, customizable 7 Series
with the help of Italian Vogue editor Franca Sozzani, who recently co-designed one. (Details are sketchy, but we’re told she had it upholstered in a combination of felt, washed wool, and leather.) With Joy Bryant, Helena Christensen, and Chanel Iman co-hosting, it’s sure to be a little swingier than your typical cars-and-cocktails soirée.
To the big spender goes the spoils, though, and Mercedes-Benz has seemingly thrown recession woes to the wind in an effort to spread itself all over Bryant Park and beyond. Even if you don’t refer to this
time of year as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, it’s hard to walk into the tents without feeling that, well, maybe you should. That AMG Black Series model to your left goes from 0 to 60 in 3.6 seconds and has an “air-scarf” heating system that targets your neck (consider it a go-everywhere accessory). True to tradition—and admirably, in this economy—M-B is covering costs for a designer who might not otherwise be able to pull off a show at the tents. This season, it’s Yigal Azrouël. (Last fall it was Ralph Rucci; the brand’s past partnerships include Badgley Mischka and Tracy Reese.) His post-show party will be in the Maurice Villency-designed backstage lounge, where, during a Tuesday hot toddy session, Mercedes will be handing out a ski trip to Stowe, Vermont. How do we know the dream is still alive at fashion week? Even automakers are in a giving mood.
tracy reese and friends celebrate big night, new day
Designer Tracy Reese festooned her Hudson Street store—and her tailored blazer—with red, white, and blue ribbons last night to welcome, as she said, “friends and acquaintances to come over and watch it all happen together.” Her election-night party drew an ecstatic group of Obama supporters, including Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Robin Givhan and model and actress Veronica Webb, who was there with husband George Robb. Early in the ballot counting, with Obama taking a dramatic lead, Reese was asked what she’d do first thing after the president-elect was named. “Probably talk to my parents,” said the Detroit native about her father, who lives in Huntsville, Alabama, and her mom, who’s back in Detroit. “For our parents’ generation, this is really, I don’t think, a day they thought they would live to see come.” Webb, who also hails from Detroit, answered the same question with utter resolve: “I’m not going to do anything differently tomorrow. The nation will be different. And I think that things that have really been plaguing our nation, ulcerating our nation, like illiteracy, incarceration, intolerance, and indifference, will no longer be tolerated, will no longer be just accepted as being a fundamental part of our culture. That day is over.”
blasblog: bear witness to history with champagne (or beer)
It’s hard to believe that in less than 48 hours (voting booth shenanigans notwithstanding), we will know the name of the new president headed to the White House. And for many of us in the creative arts, it’s hard to accept any type of big change—be it seasonal or artistic—without some sort of organized celebration, preferably with complimentary canapés and alcoholic beverages. (If you’ve ever been to a boozy gallery opening or a late-night fashion party, you know what I’m talking about here.) Perhaps that’s why I stumbled upon nearly half a dozen election-night viewing parties this week—thrown by all sorts of people and in all sorts of locations. For downtowners, Chrissie Miller, designer of the label Sophomore and queen of the hipster Lit Lounge set, will be distributing beer and ribs from her Second Avenue apartment. In the uptown professionals category, Harvey Weinstein and Jim Nelson are hosting a casual-attire shindig at Public House on 41st Street. On the Lower East Side, Simon Hammerstein and his cabaret cronies are hosting a ‘do at The Box. (The typically scandalous venue has actually gotten very political of late, even hosting debate parties and Obama fundraisers in the weeks leading to tomorrow night’s election.) And in the West Village, art worlders Gavin Brown and Jonathan Horowitz are offering “Obama family chili,” veggie burgers, and hot dogs to anyone wanting to see, presumably, the Democratic hopeful take the big ticket. “It’s actually one of the few things that have linked our generations,” Miller said about the anticipation leading to the election. “And it’s been nice to see more people of my age get involved, and really trying to get Obama into the office.” Turns out, in these parts, there’s lots of Obama talk. The designer Tracy Reese, who is hosting her own election-night party tomorrow, is going as far as calling her fête a Barack party. Asked about her different plans for an Obama victory and for a loss, she responded: “We will toast our future president and this incredible history-making occasion. And I don’t even want to think about the other option!”