Billy Reid grew up in Amite, a small town in southern Louisiana. His mom owned a women’s boutique that was located in his grandmother’s old house, and that had a big impact on the way hospitality is portrayed in his shops today. Reid went to the Art Institute of Dallas and worked his way through school at Saks Fifth Avenue. He later moved to Los Angeles, New York, and Boston during a six-year career with Reebok where he helped them pioneer their Greg Norman Golf Collections. He launched his own collection in 1998 under the label William Reid, which had critical success and CFDA award recognition. Things were really taking off with that collection until he held a New York Fashion Week runway show on September 10th, 2001, a day before the 9/11 attacks. Everything eventually unraveled, ultimately closing that business. In the aftermath, Reid and his family moved to his wife’s hometown of Florence, Alabama, to reset life. After years of struggling, he relaunched his brand in 2004 under the label Billy Reid. He had a vision that an American Fashion House can be based in the Deep South, outside of the usual New York, Paris, and Milan fashion centers. Nearly 20 years later, he has seen that vision through, and he continues to build and create from Florence, AL.