New York Fashion Week by day is flooded with fashion wannabes and pros looking up and down at what’s to be the most sought-after styles for the upcoming season. However, by night, the IT girls and industry guys come out to play. One founder who has made Los Angeles her playground and her Instagram a mood board took over the coveted city for the night in the most glamorous way, but Raven Tracy didn’t always have it all, she earned it.
While Tracy’s rich girl aesthetic is an inspo for any working girl, making it out of Buffalo, New York was the first of many challenges. Eventually moving to LA to benefit herself and her career, Tracy’s curation of coveted social circles including the likes of JT, Kylie Jenner, and SZA, and marriage of street style ensembles with designer drip brought her to the spotlight. In 2018 she founded Body, a lifestyle label, with each garment sporting the 90s-esque logo in large letters on sets, and swimsuits. Originally aimed to spread inclusivity in fashion, Body has developed a life and consumer of its own, being a must-have in anyone who’s anyone’s closet. While the brand is based in LA, Body’s debut to NYFW, with Raven’s Move Your Body party was the stamp of the brand’s success coast to coast.
As an editorial assistant and fashion obsessor, NYFW is the busiest yet exhilarating few days of the year. Not only am I necessary to shows and hush-hush backstage moments, but after hours is pivotal for any young professional in the industry to be seen and be connected. From the after parties of Off-White to Sp5der and Collina Strada, the seven-day fix can make you or break you. Amid Ubers, buses, and trains, the steps of the Baccarat Hotel had finally met my go-to chunky boots from a vintage boutique to go behind the feed of Tracy.
The luxury hotel, located just steps away from The MoMA was an experience of its own. Though not new to the demure adjacent space, it’s not your typical franchise overnight stay. You’re not greeted with a concierge and a pantry to the right, but an elevator that transports you to the second floor for the lavish to play. Scrambling to find a waiter, I was instructed to security who escorted me up to Tracy’s floor. Walking in, an unreleased latex catsuit from No Scene Girls was first thing spotted on Raven Tracy, as the room was brimming with PR, Tracy’s friends, glam, and her expensive wardrobe for the week. In real-time, we see her do the finishing touches of putting on jewelry, shooting content for social media, and gearing up for her big night. A phone call to her current beau Christian Combs, her phone, “Christian my man my man my man Combs,” asking for a couple of simple items, overshadows any doubts regarding the love between the talked-about couple. After a quick spritz of Tracy’s signature scent Oriana by Parfums De Marly, and strapping in her vintage Louis Vuitton slingbacks, her entourage, including her niece Merra and her best friend and co-creative director, Hector, flooded the hotel hallways making their way down to the black trucks waiting for them.
As her crew stepped inside two Chevrolet suburbans, Combs and Tracy couldn’t keep each other off, with each constant yet genuine embrace as Comb’s repeatedly reassures Raven how beautiful she looks. A bottle of Don Julio Reposado is being passed around as Laila!’s “Not My Problem” remix with Cash Cobain is blaring through the aux. The energy pulsated throughout the vehicle with the bass thumping so hard you could feel the vibration through the windows.
Getting to the venue, you couldn’t miss the line wrapped around the block with New Yorkers eagerly waiting to get inside Body by Raven Tracy’s first-ever New York event. Before the celebrity-esque moment, Tracy’s PR team Lluvia “Jubi” Perez and Tristin Brown, made a brief rundown to ensure Tracy’s safety inside the event. Though events such as this are nothing new to Tracy, the anxiety as an everyday girl, forced me to pause and reflect on the energy celebrities experience at every party, award show, or them making a Target run. With the Body logo looking down at us from the outside of the building, Raven’s security opened her door, for her and Combs to make their anticipated entrance. As we maneuvered through the crowd of iPhones, camera flashes, and girls screaming “Raven” from every corner, it was then the night was going to be one to remember.
Tracy hit the stage and immediately started greeting supporters, taking selfies, and pouring shots into their cups. The stage quickly got packed with a mix of friends and people who snuck in filming their “I’m someone,” moment for their Instagram story. For one night only, Silo transformed into a Body by Raven Tracy universe as the iconic body logo spun across the ceiling, while brand mantras and affirmations were projected on the walls. Even the cups and drinks were fully “body-fied.” Tracy is spotted posing up with influencer Natasha Alana, vintage reseller Yuri’San, and LuoLuo founder Lauren Luo in her section.
From 10 PM to 3 AM, Silo was packed with Body shoppers, and who’s who of the night. Amongst the crowd were rising A-listers Serena Page and Kordell Beckham, alongside New York’s finest Cash Cobain and Bay Swag, and the UK’s own Jordan Adetunji making an appearance for a surprise performance of the viral hit “Kehlani” as well as Cobain and Combs debuting their collaboration “You Ready.” Last Friday night, Move Your Body partygoers experienced Tracy’s everyday LA nightlife for once, showing up authentically and fashionably giving body.