Fashionable, Yes and Washable, Too!

Forget Ready-to-Wear; if Procter & Gamble has its way, RTW will mean Ready-to-Wash. Culminating a year-long partnership between Tide, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and fashion designer Tracy Reese, Reese’s first runway collection including completely machine washable looks begins arriving at retailers and TracyReese.com this month.

Debuting as part of Reese’s Fall 2014 collection, “Tracy Reese Washable Fashion for Tide” features a variety of fashion-forward designer separates from cozy cable-knit sweaters to stylish jacquard skirts and dresses to metallic cargo pants. Each item can be cared for in laundry rooms across the country by using Tide Pods to ensure that they remain beautiful wash after wash.

“It’s always been important for me to create garments for real women, which is why this has been such a fun project for me. It has been a great experience working with the CFDA and Tide on the Washable Fashion Initiative,” says Reese. “It gave me a chance to prove something that I already know, which is that you can create beautiful designer garments that can be cared for easily at home. This is just a natural extension of my work as a designer. Ultimately what I’ve taken away from this is that washable garments can be fashionable. I will continue to design with washable fabrics to make my clothing more accessible to women.”

The launch of the collection in stores offers an exciting way for consumers to personally experience the results of the Washable Fashion Initiative, according to P&G. Each of the eight items Reese designed is made with machine washable fabrics and yarns making designer fashion easier for consumers to care for their favorite looks at home. The company is on a mission to change the way designers think about the fabrics incorporated into their collections and offer consumers a way to more easily care for their designer garments at home. Last year, the brand joined forces with the CFDA to establish the Washable Fashion Initiative with the goals of educating designers on the benefits of using washable fabrics, and promoting the future state of washable fashion within the industry. Reese serves as the inaugural designer ambassador for the program. Reese took a closer look at her own design process and the fabrics she was using to identify new opportunities to incorporate fabrics into her garments that are washing machine friendly such as, cotton, acrylic, wool, polyamide, polyurethane, elastane, polyester, rayon, and spandex. The designer was excited to find that she could use these materials to create beautiful garments without sacrificing her signature style.

“It’s always been important for me to create garments for real women, which is why this has been such a fun project for me. It has been a great experience working with the CFDA and Tide on the Washable Fashion Initiative,” says Reese. “It gave me a chance to prove something that I already know, which is that you can create beautiful designer garments that can be cared for easily at home. This is just a natural extension of my work as a designer. Ultimately what I’ve taken away from this is that washable garments can be fashionable. I will continue to design with washable fabrics to make my clothing more accessible to women.”

The “Tracy Reese Washable Fashion Collection for Tide” is currently available for purchase at TracyReese.com and at retail stores nationwide where Tracy Reese is sold including Anthropologie and Nordstrom. Additional items will continue to roll out through September and range in price from $218 to $378. Customers who purchase any Washable Fashion Collection piece from TracyReese.com will also receive a complimentary sample of new Tide Pods® Free and Gentle to use when caring for the garment at home. (Samples will be included with purchases shipped to the US and Canada only.)