Going Her Own Way
With
Tracee Ellis Ross
Actor, entrepreneur, worldly wanderer and style icon – is there anything TRACEE ELLIS ROSS can’t do? As her TV show Solo Traveling returns for a second season, she talks to writer CATE YOUNG about fashion, freedom and how she chooses herself over and over again
When Tracee Ellis Ross was 12 years old, she lost her luggage. Ahead of a trip to the Bahamas with her family, she packed all her most beloved fashion pieces. “I had put my jewelry in there, my Ylang Ylang rhinestone bracelets, and my favorite gift that my mom had given me. It was a curated bag – my yellow Guess holdall. I will never forget those things because they’re gone. Forever. And I still want them back!”
In the decades since, she has developed a strategy to avoid repeating that particularly upsetting calamity – a full week’s glam in a standard-issue carry-on. She’s gotten it down to a science. The art of packing has, in fact, become a central motif in her current project: a Roku travel show, Solo Traveling, which will be returning in the summer for a second season.
Ross’s eyes are vibrant and her smile wide when she tells me this story, and throughout the rest of our conversation. Seated in her colorful, predictably maximalist office, at the headquarters of her haircare company, Pattern Beauty, she is welcoming and warm, every bit as joyous and effervescent as she seems on television.
Regardless of genealogy – lest we forget, her mother is ‘Queen of Motown’ Diana Ross – it’s Ross’s own colossal charisma that has made her a household name. She is expressive and broad; unafraid to ham it up or take up space. It’s a strategy that has led her directly to the life she lives (and loves) right now.
“One of the things that being an ARTIST and an actor has offered me is the COURAGE to play; the NECESSITY of play”
SAINT LAURENTGlossed textured-leather biker jacket
SAINT LAURENTCropped pussy-bow lace-trimmed silk-georgette blouse
SAINT LAURENTWoven midi skirt
SAINT LAURENTBo Rondes Et Rectangles gold-plated earrings
Ross has been playfully elevated as the ‘rich auntie’ that millions of fellow Black women aspire to be – and a phenomenal public example of how to live a truly fulfilled life as a single woman. The trips she took in Solo Traveling’s first season (to Morocco, Mexico and Spain) burnished that reputation. Her life is the lifestyle other women look up to, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“Honestly, when you say that, it makes me want to cry. I feel honored, very moved. And my only desire [for the show] is that it just be a reminder that you can do it too. Your version.”
That sentiment makes perfect sense if you’ve been paying attention to Ross’s interviews over the last few years. One of her many mantras is “your happiness is your own responsibility.” It’s a big part of how she maintains joy in her own life and a perspective further evangelized in Solo Traveling.
“That’s really the metaphor,” she says. “That you can use solo travel the way I’m using it in the show – as a roadmap for an internal relationship with yourself. One that’s lifelong. It’s not just about a trip. It’s about a rich and textured life that is yours. And that’s not to say that it’s just for single people. It’s for anyone who’s really looking for a relationship with their own inner landscape – and what makes their heart sing.”
SAINT LAURENTLace-trimmed ribbed silk-jersey tank top
SAINT LAURENTGrain de poudre wool and silk-satin blazer
SAINT LAURENTPleated grain de poudre wool and mohair-blend pants€1,520.00View Product DetailsSelect a Size34 - out of stock36 - out of stock3840 - out of stock42 - out of stock
SAINT LAURENTJeanne embellished glossed-leather slingback pumps€1,310.00View Product DetailsSelect a SizeEU 35EU 36EU 36.5 - low stockEU 37EU 37.5EU 38EU 38.5 - low stockEU 39EU 39.5 - low stockEU 40EU 40.5 - out of stockEU 41 - low stockEU 41.5EU 42
“I love bold things. I love bold PEOPLE. I love bold EXPRESSION. And it all comes through in my CLOTHES”
Luckily for those that watch her, one of the things that makes Tracee’s heart sing loudest is fashion. At a dinner for the WWD Style Awards in 2025, where she was honored as a Fashion Trailblazer, Ross addressed the crowd: “Don’t wait for events to wear your pretty things. You are the special occasion.” Fittingly, she was bedecked in a black Alaïa turtleneck bodysuit with grommet embellishments and a fringed leather belt. As they say, if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk.
Ross has a closet that would make most fashion fans weep and she’s not letting any of her incredible pieces hang around gathering dust. “I come to the office and I wear comfortable clothes,” she says, “but when I go on a trip, if I’m going to go to Paris, I’m going to bring all my favorite things. And I’m going to live out my editorial dreams as if I were a living fashion spread.”
Despite conventional industry wisdom that celebrities shouldn’t be seen in the same outfit twice, Ross vehemently disagrees. “Maybe because of social media, people don’t repeat outfits [and it’s] this whole thing. Which I don’t understand, because I build a wardrobe. There are things in my closet from years ago.”
ALAÏABelted leather biker jacket
ALAÏAEdge gold-plated cuff
ALAÏAWool-blend tapered pants
ALAÏATong 90 patent-leather wedge sandals
“I was the only WOMAN in the room. I was one of two Black people […] And I felt very PROUD that I didn’t feel afraid to stand up. I BROUGHT it”
CHLOÉCropped belted gathered cotton-poplin jacket
CHLOÉBow-detailed lace-trimmed stretch-jersey bodysuit
CHLOÉ6.5 cm Gold-tone and leather waist belt
CHLOÉTiered silk crepe de chine maxi skirt
While building it, she’s honed her various signatures. She favors clothing and accessories with bounce, sway and give: fabric that can move and dance along with her. She’s known for her daring, colorful and adventurous fashion choices. Unique silhouettes and uncommon proportions inevitably find their way to her; she’s a magnet for the kind of big expression that only well-tailored pieces can provide. “I love bold things. I love bold people. I love people who know themselves. I love bold expression. And it all comes through in my clothes.”
“I think that runs back to me as an actor,” Ross muses. “One of the things that being an artist and an actor has offered me is the courage to play; the necessity of play. What other people think of me is none of my business.” It’s striking, actually, that this sense of confidence and security is not something she shares with the most iconic character in her showbiz repertoire: Joan Carol Clayton in the 2000s hit TV show Girlfriends.
“There’s a lot of irony in the reality of my life versus Joan’s. Joan was waiting to be chosen. And imagine what it’s like for an actor to speak the words of someone for 173 episodes, for eight years, who is constantly saying that; who has this big, beautiful life, friends, a big career, and is still, to a certain extent, unable to discover her own worthiness and her own lovability without the idea of being chosen.”
After eight seasons, production on Girlfriends abruptly ended because of the 2008 WGA writers’ strike. It left Ross feeling unmoored. A significant chapter of her professional life ended with little to no warning and less than no fanfare. “It was such a terrifying end for all of us. We were just sent off to pasture with no real goodbye,” she says. “I felt like my identity was gone. When I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t see me because I saw Joan.”
MCQUEENHalterneck wool blazer
JIL SANDERGold-tone onyx beaded necklace
MCQUEENWool straight-leg pants
JUDESnug suede thong sandals€520.00View Product DetailsSelect a Size3636.53737.538 - low stock38.5 - out of stock39 - low stock39.54040.541 - out of stock42
“There’s this odd MYTH that enjoying your singleness means you’re NOT looking for partnership and it’s not TRUE. I date”
With a mind that is constantly working overtime, though, Ross didn’t stay adrift for long. The show’s end gave her the time to focus on an idea for a haircare line. One that “exceeds the needs of the curly, coily and tight-textured community.” By then, she’d had ample experience with on-set glam teams who didn’t know how to care for her signature curly tresses. She knew there were gaps in the market, because she herself was falling through the cracks. But it still took nearly a decade to get Pattern Beauty off the ground.
Setbacks didn’t deter her, as you can imagine. Another one of Ross’s mantras is that “a small ‘no’ is a big ‘yes’.” Each time she was rebuked, it taught her a little more about entering the beauty space as a businesswoman. The rejection was trial by fire, but the end result was years of hard-won expertise.
“There were a lot of limiting ideas coming at me. And it kept demanding me to be specific. By the time that 10 years finished and I found my retail partner, I had clarified and articulated my vision for this brand so specifically.”
By her third season playing Dr. Rainbow Johnson on ABC’s Black-ish, Ross was building her business in her trailer between takes. With the brand thriving, there has been more time to take stock. Despite her success in entertainment and business, she’s still had to deal with many of the same irritations, annoyances and racist microaggressions that Black women have always had to confront in the workforce.
THE ROWClarisa leather knee-lenght coat
THE ROWNian cashmere sweater€1,620.00View Product DetailsSelect a Sizexx small - out of stockx small - low stocksmallmediumlargex large
THE ROWFinbar high-rise jeans€1,070.00View Product DetailsSelect a Size23 - out of stock24 - low stock2526 - low stock27 - out of stock28 - out of stock29 - out of stock3031 - out of stock32 - out of stock
THE ROW90's small leather tote
“I had a meeting recently. I walked out of there and it made me cry with how hard it was. I felt like I was in the face of systemic racism. I was the only woman in the room. I was one of two Black people, two people of color. And the garbage that was coming at me with such a sense of ease… it was genuinely staggering. And I felt very proud that I didn’t feel afraid to stand up. I brought it.”
Despite this, she remains as playful and synergistic in her “CEO era” as she is in the other areas of her life. “My actor life has very much informed what kind of leader I am and how I collaborate. But my producer skills are really what helps me run this company.”
Ross makes gratitude a practice and lets her curiosity guide her. It’s what she thinks led to her real sense of ownership over her life – and her hunger for self-discovery. She is a whole person, on her own. A good partner would only make an already excellent life even sweeter.
“I don’t have to wait to be chosen. And there’s this odd myth that enjoying your singleness means you’re not looking for partnership and it’s not true. I date, and I’m open, and I have beautiful leanings in. I just haven’t found the person. And I think that’s why solo travel has been such a beautiful metaphor for me as this sort of roadmap for how to know yourself, to be yourself by yourself, out in the world.”
Season two of Solo Traveling airs in July on Roku
ALAÏAOpen-knit top
ALAÏAGold-tone hoop earrings
ALAÏAKnitted fringed midi skirt€2,100.00View Product DetailsSelect a Size34 - out of stock36 - out of stock38 - out of stock40 - out of stock42
ALAÏABumper silver-tone and Plexiglas® cuff
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