Written by Naomi May
The star of Queer Eye and Next In Fashion is on a mission to encourage as many people as possible to embrace their authentic selves. His latest endeavour? A 37-piece collection with George at Asda.
“Clothes have always made me feel something,” an impeccably dressed Tan France explains over Zoom against the backdrop of a slick exposed brick wall. “They made me feel something that I didn’t feel in the Asian clothes I grew up in or the school uniform that I had to wear. I wanted to feel like me, a little queer boy, and I didn’t get to feel that in either of those wardrobes that I had at my disposal. Clothes became my way of saying, ‘This is who I am,’ without having to say who I was.”
The breakout star of Queer Eye and self-professed fashion lover is dialling in from the set of the upcoming season of the hit Netflix series, which is currently filming in New Orleans. In a soft northern drawl – he was born in Doncaster – he emphatically apologises for being late to our call, stressing that he’s working on what his team calls “New Orleans time”.
Where to start a conversation with a man who, since Netflix’s reboot of Queer Eye debuted in 2018 (it first screened in 2003 under the name Queer Eye For The Straight Guy), has gone from relatively unknown clothing entrepreneur to beloved personality, creative director and household name? Queer Eye, which has won three Emmys to date, has catapulted all of its ‘Fab Five’ to stardom, but none more so than France.
His story begins in Doncaster, with two older brothers, a sister, and his two parents, who came to England as children. “I found it really difficult in the UK, fitting in and being myself – I was Asian, I was queer in the 80s and 90s,” he says. “That really wasn’t easy, especially in the north.”
After a childhood spent experimenting away from the gaze of his family, he left home and founded Kingdom & State, a women’s swimwear line that he sold when he was 32, as well as a women’s fashion brand he created with blogger Rachel Parcell.
“I had brands that were wildly successful and I was able to sell them and retire when I was 32. So at my core, I’m a designer,” he adds.
It was on a holiday with his husband, artist Rob France, in Las Vegas that he received the first call from a talent manager enquiring about his availability to star in Queer Eye, which is now filming its seventh season. He’s clear that none of the stars of the show knew how influential the show would become. “Queer Eye really came along out of nowhere,” he says. “And then it blew up and became huge globally very, very quickly – within the first few days, which was a very strange feeling.”
The fame of the show inevitably bought offers of endorsement deals and clothing collaborations, which France avoided after vowing to never run his own brand again. One offer that resonated with him, though, was one his American team first rejected after not recognising the name of the brand.
“Asda came along, and I had to explain to my team what it was and how big it was in the UK. They were about to reject the offer,” he says, adding that the two teams had a meeting and a Tan France edit was agreed upon. The result is a 37-piece collection of both womenswear and menswear, pieces that France emphatically states he “genuinely loves”. He puts his name to nothing that he doesn’t really love and think is great, he stresses.
“I swear to God – and I don’t swear to God often because I’m a religious person – but the pieces in my collection are wicked,” he tells Stylist, noting that Asda is the supermarket that he grew up visiting and the one that his family, now based in Manchester, still shop at.
But his purpose is more expansive than just fashion and hosting. Earlier this year, he fronted a BBC documentary, Beauty And The Bleach, which saw him delve into the divisive topic of colourism within marginalised communities, a topic close to his heart. “There was no reason for me to be in entertainment,” he states. “I was really quite wealthy before this; I didn’t need the money. For me it was about representation and seeing people like myself on TV. That was and is what’s important to me.”
His main focuses now are on hosting Next In Fashion, the competition show he co-hosts with his “angel bestie” Gigi Hadid; his outerwear brand Was Him, which he promotes during the winter months, and raising his son Ismail, whom he and his husband welcomed via surrogate in 2021. There are other projects he hints at as well, ones that will see him return to British shores. And then, like that, he’s off – back to making more magic with his quintet of co-stars.
Tan France’s George at Asda edit is available to shop now. Prices start from £10.
Images: Getty; BBC; Asda
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