In her ongoing commitment to encourage and offer people more mindful style choices, Tracy Reese, American designer, and founder of Hope For Flowers, announces a sustainable capsule collection with leading women’s footwear brand, Naturalizer. Reese brings her creative talent, slow-fashion savvy, and commitment to using high-quality and eco-conscious materials to the highly anticipated collaboration.
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Tracy Reese, American designer and founder of Hope For Flowers, collaborates with leading women's footwear brand, Naturalizer, on sustainable capsule collection (Photo: Business Wire)
"I launched Hope For Flowers because I wanted to have a social enterprise as well as a clothing brand. Key to my vision is collaborating with like-minded brands to continue to drive change. Naturalizer is on its own path towards increased sustainable offerings, all the pieces fit. This is an environment I want to be part of,” said Tracy Reese, designer and founder of Hope For Flowers.
Set to launch in March 2022, the collection will feature Reese’s signature floral prints, hand-painted stripes, and joyful design flair on select Naturalizer sustainably made styles empowering consumers to advocate for positive change within the fashion industry. She created the collection based on what she loves to wear, the anchors to her personal wardrobe and her never-ending optimism and love of color. The collection will include nine styles that range from flats and sport bottoms to espadrilles and kitten heels, featuring pops of eye-catching colors including scarlet red, sapphire blue, and fuchsia. Each style and every aspect of the design and print were personally designed by Reese in her Detroit design studio.
“It's time for happy shoes; people should look at the shoes and smile,” said Reese. “The Hope for Flowers by Tracy Reese x Naturalizer collection is all about celebration and self-expression. It’s about looking good while doing good. I’m an advocate for responsible design; for me it's about more thoughtful choices, buying things we love to wear, treasured items that we would never think of parting with."
Inspired by her hometown community and motivated to be more sustainable in every aspect of life, Hope for Flowers' social mission embodies Reese’s journey to empower women and young people through arts programming for youth and collaboration with local makers and artisans.
Proceeds of this capsule collection will benefit Nest – a non-profit advancing the artisan and maker economy. Specifically, the proceeds will go towards Nest’s Makers United program which provides free resources and market access opportunities to micro maker businesses across the country with a focus on increasing diversity within local creative economies. The organization has active Makers United programs in Reese’s hometown of Detroit as well as St. Louis, the home base for both Naturalizer and Nest
“For 15 years, Nest has bridged the gap between the craftspeople and responsible brands to build a more human industry,” said Reese. “Our capsule collection - designed in Detroit - is a great opportunity to support Nest’s expanding work within the US to provide resources and new market linkages to the diverse makers who are key contributors to local creative economies.”
“This collaboration is significant to both brands’ core values of sustainability and equality," says Angelique Joseph vice president of global design at Naturalizer.
Naturalizer has been increasingly dedicated to its commitment to a more sustainable future by designing shoes in more eco-conscious ways. For instance, the brand uses responsibly sourced leather from the Leather Working Group, eco-conscious packaging with 100% of shoe boxes using 80% recycled paper and soy-based ink. This capsule collection will feature insole boards made from recycled molded plastic, recycled linings and select fabric uppers made from sustainable yarns.
“Tracy’s message, through real action, has inspired us and so many others,” said Joseph. “With diverse perspectives, creativity, and talent, we believe that we can create a more sustainable future together. We are honored to be collaborating with Tracy to learn from her and further advance Naturalizer’s sustainability initiative.”
As an inspiring leader in Naturalizer’s growing N Voices Community, Reese was first approached by the brand as her core values and design philosophy directly aligned with the mission of Naturalizer’s “Today We Will” campaign, encouraging women to make a difference through mindful actions and positive social change. The brand has also featured activist Rebecca Lee Funk, body positivity champion CeCe Olisa and Intersectional feminist Candace Reels as part of its Today We Will campaign aimed at giving voice and shining a light on the growing movement of social entrepreneurs
The limited-edition capsule collection will be available on Naturalizer.com as well as at select retailers starting in March 2022.
About Tracy Reese:
Tracy Reese is an American designer whose signature rich, daring colors and unique prints are crafted into joyful, feminine clothing for modern women. Tracy Reese launched her namesake fashion brand in 1998 in New York City and over the past 20-plus years, expanded to include the sub-brands Plenty, Frock! and Black Label enjoying strong partnerships with Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Anthropologie. Tracy Reese continues to evolve and has pivoted her business strategy to a more sustainable, slow-fashion model.
About Hope For Flowers by Tracy Reese:
Founded in 2018, Hope For Flowers by Tracy Reese is a responsibly designed and produced collection curated to foster an ecosystem of responsible fashion. Each piece in the collection is crafted from organic linen ethically sourced materials as well as produced in factories that support and value quality of life. At Hope for Flowers, we believe in the importance of incorporating positive social and ecological structures into our sourcing and operating structures. Part of HFF’s mission is to create positive social impact by empowering women and young people through arts programming in public schools and collaboration with local artisans in Detroit. https://hopeforflowers.com/
About Nest:
Founded in 2016 by Rebecca van Bergen, Nest is a nonprofit supporting the responsible growth and creative engagement of the artisan and maker economy to build a world of greater gender equity and economic inclusion. Nest’s Makers United program invest in US craft entrepreneurship, bringing attention and growth to American creative economies. www.buildanest.org
About Naturalizer:
Our passion is our purpose. To bring women a better shoe. In fact, Naturalizer is the first to construct shoes to withstand the test of time. Our legendary emphasis on fit and elegant simplicity launched a brand that became known as “the shoe with the beautiful fit.” Since 1927, we’ve crafted beautiful and modern styles that look and feel exceptional, inside and out. www.naturalizer.com
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