I dressed Tracee in a pink silk taffeta, and nothing was ever the same!
Four years ago, Tracee Ellis Ross and I were both in Paris for the couture shows. As I remember, it was a really sweltering week. Like, pour ice water over your head, hot.
After a few days of truly, lovely, beautiful shows, Tracee and I headed to the Rothschild Mansion to see the Valentino Haute Couture show designed by my dear friend, Pierpaolo Piccioli.
Now reader, the thing with these shows is… the fashion crowd is incredibly hard to please. Especially when it’s 100 degrees out. It takes some serious work to make a room of fashion people feel things, whatsoever.
And yet, somehow, Pierpaolo did it.
The second the music started to play, and those dresses came out, it was just like nothing you’d ever seen before. There was an audible, electric charge in the room. These big, beautiful dresses with oversized flowers in the hair.
It was like he’d created magic. I cried, almost immediately.
Each of the gowns was gorgeous, but the one that really shook me was this massive, pink dress. It had tons of volume and big, oversized puff sleeves and I just clocked it. Tracee did too. We were both like - oh my god, we need this dress. We didn’t know what for, but we knew we needed it.
A few months later, Tracee was nominated for an Emmy.
Now keep in mind, this was a BIG dress. It was crazy looking. But we called it in, and Tracee tried it on, and we just, loved it.
But we were also cautious. At the time, nobody was wearing that kind of volume. We knew the look could fall into some Dynasty or Dallas territory. We didn’t want that. We wanted the look to feel new, and fresh. So instead, we created a story, with a character that could inspire our new direction.
(What can I say, it’s Tracee.)
We imagined this character as a woman, living off the coast of Africa. She spent the day surfing, before walking right off the beach and into this gown for some fabulous dinner party. Her skin was dewy, like she still had sunscreen on, and her beach hair was pulled back in a perfect, neat, bun. Some orange eyeshadow, and a pink lip.
It was perfect. I mean, it was just, the look of the night. Hands down. No debate.
Before this moment with Tracee, we really hadn’t seen any big volume on the red carpet. Tracee brought it back. It had to be her. There are some people who transcend clothing, and she is one of them. She was just born, with style.
Nowadays, I can see how this moment opened the door for more volume on the red carpet. But before that? No way. Not like this.
The reason I’m telling you this story, besides the fact Paris sounds lovely right now, is because sometimes.. .these big, career-defining moments, don’t feel like blockbuster moments.
They feel like a summer trip to Paris with a client whom you love.
To see a haute couture show by a fashion designer that you also, really love.
Only to bring a pink dress back to LA, that your client brings to life. And will always, always, remember.
Because she loves it, too.
See these big, game-changing, career-defining moments…
Sometimes, they just feel like real joy, working with the people whom you love.
In the sweltering heat of Paris in July.
x Karla
