The Who: Angela Bassett was the most familiar face in the crowd and nearly caused a stampede on the catwalk when she arrived.
The What: This season’s Tracy Reese girl lives in supremely cool New York City, and she dresses accordingly. By day she’s pairing a leopard sweatshirt with a zebra skirt, and by night she’s in a sequined floral dress, or maybe a black lace one with a feminine a-line silhouette. She yearns for the nineties in tartan separates, and all of her friends want to borrow her pink moto jacket.
The Highlight: The day was made for animal lovers when Reese sent a model down the runway cradling a grey cat. The designer made mine with a heavily beaded black and white mini dress.
The Takeaway: NYC style, as designed by Reese, is as fun and carefree as ever.
Backstage with Tracy Reese:
She may lay claim to one of 2012’s biggest fashion moments — Michelle Obama’s pink and blue paisley number at the DNC — but the glory didn’t distract Tracy Reese from adding that same wow factor to her fall collection. Just before showing her latest looks, Reese gave us walked us through their story backstage.
New York Post: What was your process like this time around?
Tracy Reese: We started out at Premiere Vision which is a fabric fair and there were so many great colors and rich textures. It took me to a very particular place very quickly, which was bringing black back in an important position and working with rich textures and surfaces. So we’ve got things that are laminated, or they’re kind of velvety or flocked. Then there’s layering in of what I feel are classic fashion colors — the teals, the magentas, aubergine and scarlet — just really rich colors that pop against the black. It’s a collection that’s full of great classic items you can wear in a really twisted way. There are great hourglass shapes, great fit and flare things and body-con stuff, and really relaxed jackets,coats and trousers.
NYP: Who is the woman wearing all of these clothes?
Reese
: She’s a quintessential New York woman. She’s confident, she’s a little fierce and she’s very individual.
NYP: What do you love about being a designer?
Reese: The pleasure of the new. The idea that you can have an idea or a dream and bring it into three dimensions over and over and over again. It’s very satisfying.