Enchanting TV Personality Shares His Insights on Branding & Entrepreneurship
If you're keyed into pop culture or the latest fashion trends, you’ve undoubtedly come across Tan France, the eloquent and stylish fashion consultant on “Queer Eye” with his signature salt and pepper pompadour and charming British accent that helps people feel their very best in the clothes they don. The early 2000s makeover show was rebooted in 2018 and has been going strong for over seven years now on Netflix.
This past June, Tan was the keynote speaker at the International Beauty Show in Las Vegas, delivering his talk “Elevating Your Craft: The Secret to Branding & Bold Entrepreneurship” at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Born in Doncaster, England, he grew up in a Pakistani Muslim family. France’s entrepreneurial spirit was born out of necessity.
“Often as immigrants, we come to a place where we don’t speak the language and it’s hard to get a regular job,” France said. “So we create our own employment.”
“My grandparents were entrepreneurs. My parents were entrepreneurs. None of them had regular jobs.”
As a child, he would buy items in bulk, and resell them to his classmates. When he learned how to sew, he made garments for his siblings and mother that they otherwise couldn’t afford. Before “Queer Eye”, France worked in the fashion industry, including roles with brands like Zara and as a director for Shade Clothing.
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“I used these businesses as schools,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking I’d become CEO of those companies one day. I was thinking, I’m going to take information from here, information from there, and by age 30, start my own business with all this knowledge.”
His career brought him to Salt Lake City, where he currently resides. The large Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints community in Utah inspired Tan to refresh the conservative modesty standards of its female followers.
Cognizant of his Muslim heritage, where modesty and style coexist beautifully, he founded Kingdom & State and created fashion-forward designs that made sense.
“Just because they have to cover certain parts of their body doesn’t mean they can’t look amazing.”
He sold that brand for a handsome profit, but the challenges for self-made entrepreneurs are aplenty, and he divulged what those lessons taught him about himself and his purpose in the fashion world.
“You need the foresight and bravery to say, ‘I’ve tried it and it’s not working.’ Let that go and try something else instead. Pivot, pivot, pivot.”
France gained prominence for his work on "Queer Eye," where he helped transform the wardrobes and confidence of the show’s participants with his approachable and inclusive fashion advice. He continues his entrepreneurial spirit, launching his fashion lines and becoming a bestselling author with his memoir, “Naturally Tan” (2019).
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