Hope For Flowers Pre-Fall 2021

Tracy Reese has packed and shipped every Hope for Flowers order that’s gone out in lockdown. After running a global brand for 20 years, start-up life has certainly been an adjustment, but it’s proved invigorating. “I’m having fun again,” she said from her hometown of Detroit. Later this year, Reese will open an H.Q. in the city’s arts district, where she plans to hire and train women of color in the community. The ultimate goal is to shift most of her production from overseas to Detroit and create employment opportunities for women whose skills in sewing, embroidery, and textiles haven’t been utilized in Motor City. Reese launched Hope for Flowers in 2018, and her eco-conscious, community-driven, anti-fast-fashion missive only resonates more today. The pandemic fortified her purpose, but like many of her peers, it also forced a bit of scaling back and editing. The small collection of pieces she chose to produce for pre-fall 2021—launching in stores as spring warms to summer—had to tick every box: They’re ethically made with Tencel, organic cotton, linen, cupro, and NAIA acetate, among other eco-minded fabrics, but they’re also reliably vibrant and mood lifting. Color and print have always been Reese’s things; here, a flowery motif came in an unexpected clash of baby pink, neon lime, and lemon, while another paired shades of cayenne and fuchsia. After a long winter (and year) in gray and black sweats, they looked utterly rejuvenating, even via Zoom.