Fashion Week: Tracy Reese gives a voice to her models

On the fifth day of New York Fashion Week, Tracy Reese gave voice to her models — literally. Victoria Beckham presented a light-hearted collection that relied on colors inspired by playdough and ice cream. And the Public School label offered a pointed message on immigration.

GIVING WOMEN A VOICE, AT TRACY REESE

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Designer Tracy Reese, center, helps style a model backstage ahead of her Spring 2018 collection presentation.(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

On the fifth day of New York Fashion Week, Tracy Reese gave voice to her models — literally. Victoria Beckham presented a light-hearted collection that relied on colors inspired by playdough and ice cream. And the Public School label offered a pointed message on immigration.

A model presents the Tracy Reese Spring 2018 collection. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

GIVING WOMEN A VOICE, AT TRACY REESE

"They're saying something about themselves, why they're doing this, what their hopes and dreams are, the women they admire in their lives," Reese explained. "Often when you come to these, people don't look at the women, they're looking at the clothes, and that why we're doing this. I wanted people to see the woman in the clothing, and hear something about who she is."

The remarks were unscripted, and very personal. One model was speaking in Spanish, saying that her mother was the person she admired most in the world. Another, in English, was saying: "A woman is strong, a woman is love, a woman is beauty." Still another was saying, "I am strength, I am grace, I am a woman."

Attending the show was Whoopi Goldberg, who noted that Reese, who's known for being one of Michelle Obama's favorite designers, is "especially good at recognizing that women's bodies are different. And they're big and small and wide and thin and that's who she creates for. So there is something for every person on the planet in Tracy's collections, and I love that."

Reese has long offered up a runway that is diverse not only ethnically but in terms of size and shape. She also often combines professional and non-professional models in her shows — a rarity.

"It's what you kind of have to do now," the actress and TV host said. "If you want to sell the clothes. She's always known and she now can design for everybody — as you see here, there are black women, white women, Hispanic women, Asian women ... this is the world stage. So I am so proud."

Actress and TV personality Whoopi Goldberg appears at the Tracy Reese Spring 2018 collection.(AP Photo/Jocelyn Noveck)

Often, designers are asked who their "muse" was when designing a specific collection. Reese said her muse was simply "every woman who wants to look and feel beautiful in clothing. I thought, 'Let's highlight the women that are wearing the clothes.'"

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On the fifth day of New York Fashion Week, Tracy Reese gave voice to her models — literally. Victoria Beckham presented a light-hearted collection that relied on colors inspired by playdough and ice cream. And the Public School label offered a pointed message on immigration.

GIVING WOMEN A VOICE, AT TRACY REESE

"They're saying something about themselves, why they're doing this, what their hopes and dreams are, the women they admire in their lives," Reese explained. "Often when you come to these, people don't look at the women, they're looking at the clothes, and that why we're doing this. I wanted people to see the woman in the clothing, and hear something about who she is."

The remarks were unscripted, and very personal. One model was speaking in Spanish, saying that her mother was the person she admired most in the world. Another, in English, was saying: "A woman is strong, a woman is love, a woman is beauty." Still another was saying, "I am strength, I am grace, I am a woman."

Attending the show was Whoopi Goldberg, who noted that Reese, who's known for being one of Michelle Obama's favorite designers, is "especially good at recognizing that women's bodies are different. And they're big and small and wide and thin and that's who she creates for. So there is something for every person on the planet in Tracy's collections, and I love that."

Reese has long offered up a runway that is diverse not only ethnically but in terms of size and shape. She also often combines professional and non-professional models in her shows — a rarity.

"It's what you kind of have to do now," the actress and TV host said. "If you want to sell the clothes. She's always known and she now can design for everybody — as you see here, there are black women, white women, Hispanic women, Asian women ... this is the world stage. So I am so proud."

Often, designers are asked who their "muse" was when designing a specific collection. Reese said her muse was simply "every woman who wants to look and feel beautiful in clothing. I thought, 'Let's highlight the women that are wearing the clothes.'"

Entering the Tracy Reese presentation on Sunday afternoon, you immediately noticed something unusual about the models standing on the stage: They were speaking.

"They're saying something about themselves, why they're doing this, what their hopes and dreams are, the women they admire in their lives," Reese explained. "Often when you come to these, people don't look at the women, they're looking at the clothes, and that why we're doing this. I wanted people to see the woman in the clothing, and hear something about who she is."

The remarks were unscripted, and very personal. One model was speaking in Spanish, saying that her mother was the person she admired most in the world. Another, in English, was saying: "A woman is strong, a woman is love, a woman is beauty." Still another was saying, "I am strength, I am grace, I am a woman."

Attending the show was Whoopi Goldberg, who noted that Reese, who's known for being one of Michelle Obama's favorite designers, is "especially good at recognizing that women's bodies are different. And they're big and small and wide and thin and that's who she creates for. So there is something for every person on the planet in Tracy's collections, and I love that."

Reese has long offered up a runway that is diverse not only ethnically but in terms of size and shape. She also often combines professional and non-professional models in her shows — a rarity.

Diversity on the runway is something other designers have slowly caught up to, Goldberg noted.

"It's what you kind of have to do now," the actress and TV host said. "If you want to sell the clothes. She's always known and she now can design for everybody — as you see here, there are black women, white women, Hispanic women, Asian women ... this is the world stage. So I am so proud."

Often, designers are asked who their "muse" was when designing a specific collection. Reese said her muse was simply "every woman who wants to look and feel beautiful in clothing. I thought, 'Let's highlight the women that are wearing the clothes.'"

"I love that they're getting to share who they are," she said.