Tan France On Fashion Brands And Inclusivity: ‘Pretty much everyone is talking about it, but so few are actually doing it’

Tan France spent lockdown in Salt Lake City, hiking, video-calling and keeping to himself, largely to avoid being mobbed by fans whose sense of social-distancing flew out the window as soon as they clocked him. ‘I tried for the first week, but people [wanting photos] are so sweet and get too close. There aren’t that many brown people in this town and, if there are, there aren’t that many with my hair,’ he says.

We’re speaking a few days before the launch of his new campaign with Klarna. Clothes Love All is about recognising the fashion industry’s problem with discrimination, and helping consumers to become more engaged in their choices. France has devised eight guiding principles - everything from the fact that ‘flattering’ is a false construct to how we should all be sharing and rewearing - as well as his own shoppable wishlist on the app. ‘The philosophy for this campaign is that they want to include everyone. Retail is for everybody, shopping is for everybody, fashion is for everybody,’ he says, sentiments that fans of Queer Eye, Netflix’s smash-hit show, will be well-versed in. Ahead of its launch, we video-called France, chatting about everything from feeling like an outsider in the fashion industry to what he’s wearing in the ‘new normal’.

Why did you want to work with Klarna?

What these guys do - and what they’re hoping to do - is change the game and be a lot more inclusive. Pretty much everyone is talking about it, but so few are actually doing it. It feels like a special message that they’re trying to convey - and who better to convey that than the person who is so incredibly intersectional?

Could you explain the ‘clothes for all’ mantra behind the campaign?

The philosophy for this campaign is that they want to include everyone. Retail is for everybody, shopping is for everybody, fashion is for everybody. Just because you’re part of a marginalised community doesn’t mean you can’t feel the way everybody else gets to feel. There’s no reason why you should be discounted from feeling your very best. When I take people into a store on Queer Eye, I want them to know first and foremost, I’ve brought you here for a reason. You may think you don’t have a place here, but you do.

Before your success on Queer Eye and Next In Fashion, did you ever feel like an outsider in the fashion industry?

I still do. Believe me, just because I have fame and I have wealth, I still feel sometimes like the fashion industry thinks there are certain people who aren’t right for it. I’m positive they would say that about me because I don’t deck myself in designer clothing, I don’t care that much about the hottest new trend. If a trend works for me, I will embrace it. But do I live by trends? Do I change my clothes every three months and not wear things any more because they were ‘last season’? Absolutely not. I’m positive that I’m excluded from the fashion industry because of that, but I don't care. I care so much more about style for myself, making myself feel good, and pushing that agenda forward onto other people who feel like they’re excluded from the fashion industry.

Where were you at the beginning of lockdown?

I was in Texas, filming Queer Eye. We had almost finished one episode and then the world changed. We found out it was getting worse and worse. On Thursday, I went to the grocery store and it was absolute bedlam. I called the producer and said, ‘What the heck is going on?’ The next day, I came to Salt Lake, and was here until mid-August. I barely left my house, I only left to go on hikes, I live on the side of a mountain. I didn’t go to the grocery store very often - my husband often went for me - because even with a mask and a cap, people can tell it’s me. I tried for the first week, but people [wanting photos] are so sweet and get too close. There aren’t that many brown people in this town and, if there are, there aren’t that many with my hair.

What did you find yourself wearing? Were you dressing up at home?

Normally for a call, I do get dressed up. I wouldn’t wear a chunky boot or something that’s uncomfortable on my feet, but I still dressed up. Every Zoom call, I would put on an outfit. That is one of the things that I have really championed throughout this. I know that many people are in a position where they’re not buying new things, however, if you are feeling a bit down, just pop something on that makes you feel good. That was something important to me. It’s the easiest way to perk yourself up. Whether we’re in lockdown or in real life, putting something on your body that makes you feel nice, it changes your mood for the day. If you know that you’ve made zero effect on your wardrobe that day, it’s going to make you feel crappy about yourself.

Do you ever feel pressure on video calls to dress a certain way?

No matter where I am, I always feel pressure to look a certain way. I think people would be shocked if I didn’t make an effort with my clothes, but then it’s so not me to not make an effort with my clothes. I’ve been doing this since I was 7 or 8. I would dress for every meal. I would get ready in the morning and by breakfast, I was planning what to wear later in the day, for lunch I would change, for dinner I would change. It was exhausting for my mum, for me it was amazing. I thought, I wore that for breakfast, but I want to convey something different for lunch. Clothes made me feel more powerful. I’ve been doing this for a long time so getting dressed for Zoom calls, or getting dressed up for home, even if no-one else is here, is something I’ve done my entire life. It might sound so shallow to so many people, but I understand what it does for my mentality.

There’s been a real movement towards finding the joy in fashion this year. What about fashion makes you so happy?

It is the fact that you get to control how you’re perceived. That’s very special to me. If you’re stuck in a rut - you’re not getting the dates you want to get or the promotion you want to get or you don’t feel the way you want to feel when you’re walking down the street, no-one’s looking at you or you’re getting too much attention and you want to calm it down - fashion has the ability to really dictate how you’re viewed by others and how you view yourself. That’s why I think it’s so fun.

What was your first fashion moment?

I remember it very distinctly. I was about to turn 7, and it was my birthday. We don’t really celebrate birthdays in my culture, but my mum would sometimes sneak us stuff. She said, ‘What do you want for your birthday?’ I asked her if we could have tailor-made, a black shirt with small gold buttons. I had seen it somewhere - it must have been Versace - I desperately wanted it because I knew it would make me feel so good. Clearly, my mum did not do that because she wasn’t bonkers and she wasn’t about to have a custom shirt made for her six year-old son. I remember distinctly that that was the moment that I thought, ‘This is the way I want to look.’ I’m sure all parents are like this - not just my kooky, South Asian parents - but you don’t get to choose what you wear. You get hand-me-downs, I was the youngest of my siblings, but I was so particular about what I wanted to wear. That never went away from that age.

What advice do you have for looking your best this party season, however it might look?

For holiday season, I love a bit of sparkle or a bit of sheen somewhere. What I will say is don’t go balls out with it. Go for something that still feels like you. Go for a silhouette that you gravitate towards or you know makes you feel like your best self, and then layer on that sparkle so that it still feels like you, it doesn’t feel like a costume.

The fashion industry has changed so much this year, because of coronavirus and also because of the protests for Black Lives Matter. As someone who is in the industry, what hopes you have for its future? Do you feel positive about the changes that are happening?

Short answer, no. I don’t feel super positive. I am hopeful, but I don’t feel that many companies have done the work. So many companies reach out, and I know what they’re doing, they’re using me. I am one of the few people who is so incredibly intersectional. I’m gay, I’m Muslim, I’m South Asian, I’m an immigrant here in England, and in America. They think, we’ll book Tan for one thing and then there we’ve met our quota, we’ve shown that we’re diverse. That’s not good enough. I like that companies like Klarna are putting it into their brand ethos, and they have done for quite some time already, and they have a plan that goes further than, let’s just get through this year and convince people that we’re here for everyone. I want to see long-term plans.