For years, Tracy Christian navigated the glittering labyrinth of Hollywood, her days a whirlwind of contract negotiations and champagne toasts. Yet beneath the sequined surface, a childhood passion simmered—one that would eventually erupt into Sante Grace, a luxury fashion line shattering size barriers like a wrecking ball through plate glass windows.
Christian's fashion DNA traces back to East Coast projects where her teenage mother transformed into a disco diva before wide-eyed bedtime observations. "I watched her become magic," she recalls, likening those moments to watching Cinderella's pumpkin morph into a carriage. Barbie dolls became her first clients, their sock-tube dresses foreshadowing a future where fabric would be her currency.
The entertainment industry became her accidental proving ground. "Representation chose me," Christian muses, describing how late filmmaker John Singleton's offhand suggestion—"be a madam or an agent"—sent her careening down a path where she'd eventually negotiate deals for Toni Braxton and Busta Rhymes. Yet the siren call of silk and stitching never quieted.
When COVID-19 pressed pause on Hollywood in 2020, Christian interpreted the global timeout as divine intervention. "God said 'Now or never,'" she laughs. Her pandemic project became a revolution—Sante Grace emerged not as another fast-fashion contender, but as a bastion of cashmere sweaters and bias-cut silks for bodies the industry typically dresses in polyester purgatory.
"We're not outliers—we're the majority wearing minority clothing," Christian declares, her voice sharp as dressmaker's shears. She envisions a world where plus-size women approach their wardrobes like gourmands at a Michelin-starred restaurant rather than grabbing drive-thru fashion. "Why shouldn't our denim be 100% cotton? Our sweaters actual cashmere?"
Now expanding into publishing with plus-size superhero comics, Christian's empire building continues. "Every stitch is a protest," she says, smoothing the lapel of a blazer that—like its creator—refuses to conform. Her final piece of advice crackles like static electricity: "Stop waiting for permission to take up space. The world adjusts to those who refuse to shrink."
