Mention Detroit to anyone, and the first thing on their mind probably won't be fashion — instead, they'll likely think of automobile factories and assembly lines, Motown legends or even abandoned buildings, a city on the brink of ruin. Whichever version of Detroit comes to mind, it's likely at least partly accurate: The city's varied history and parallel creative and manufacturing sectors have made it a center for continuous transformation and reinvention for decades.
In 2018, a year after purchasing a house in Detroit, Reese began to actively consider the city as a location for a new clothing line. "I realized I didn't have to be tethered to New York for all of my work — I could work from virtually anywhere," she recalls, noting that Detroit offered her the chance to focus on her product again. "I don't want to just be creating a textile and emailing it off to a factory and waiting for a sample to come back.
"It was a really exciting time in [Detroit] and things were changing so rapidly," she says. "I knew that Detroit was really becoming its own sort of brand, but I thought there was sort of a different perspective or narrative that maybe could be represented within that overall city narrative." Hicks started Michigan Fashion Week that very year, with a goal of not only furthering her own brand but also helping other local designers market their collections. Since then, the multi-day event has taken place annually.
The other most well-known brand to come out of Detroit, arguably, is Carhartt, famous for its hardy workwear and rugged, working-class appeal.