One has to be extremely self-assured to spend time with Thomas Tait. The London-based designer may only be 26 yet he has chalked up so many remarkable achievements in the fashion work that it doesn’t take much to feel super under-achieving in his presence.
Tait graduated with a Masters of Arts from the prestigious Central Saint Martins just like Alexander McQueen and Christopher Kane but he was 21 then and hence became the youngest person to do so. In 2010, he bagged the Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize and most recently, is in the running to win the first LVMH Young Fashion Designer Award.
It wouldn’t be such a far cry to peg him down as fashion’s next wunderkind after Alexander Wang, would it?
It’s getting hot in here
Thomas Tait, young designer extraordinare. Image: Wesley Kow
When Tait flew into Singapore for the Audi Fashion Festival – he will show his Autumn Winter 2014 collection at the Tent@Orchard on May 17, 2014 – I was handed the daunting task of interviewing the young designer. So I sucked it up on a hot afternoon, even by Singapore’s standards, to meet Tait under a pavilion at The Singapore Resort and Spa where he was staying.
It must be tough, having achieved so much at such a young age. But as the long-haired designer sat in the chair across me, all zen in a white kimono top with jeans and white socks paired with sandals, I get the impression nothing can faze him.
He’s not even breaking out a bead of sweat. “In Montreal, Quebec where I’m from, it’s one place in the world where the temperature is most extreme from summer to winter. The summers are like this,” says Tait, affably referring to the weather.
Under pressure
Tait says cool under all the pressure. Image: Wesley Kow
So the man’s not afraid of heat, how about the pressure cooker to churn out critic-winning collections?
“There’s a lot of pressure, the thing is with fashion, it’s so systematic, the seasons happen whether you are ready or not and everyone in the industry works on the same cycle. There’s this kind of pressure that you don’t necessarily get to choose when you do present something, you know that’s your deadline to do it. It’s nice because it forces you to have a certain regimen and structure in how you work,” explains the designer.
By golly, this man must relish challenges! It turns out that I was right when he smiles and admits, “I was just reading an article in the New York Times about the experience of being a young designer right now, how it’s different from how it was 15 years ago, where there wasn’t as much social media. Everyone has an instant platform, it opens so many windows for criticism and acknowledgement, so young designers now feel a lot more pressure than before, it’s motivational. I’m quite a competitive person with myself, so I like to keep the ball rolling.”
Not a childhood dream
Unlike peers his age and even other designers who are social media savvy, Tait’s not really on the ball when it comes to Instagram. “I’m really bad at it,” offers Tait, “I’m at crossroads, I like Instagram but I don’t post as often. I started it as a personal thing and have followers who are fashion enthusiasts. So right now I’m wondering should I use it as a platform for the business or personal thing?”
This is certainly interesting and so is the fact that I am about to learn – he never harboured childhood dreams of being a fashion designer. Although as a child, the young Tait was fussy about how he liked things to look and had the freedom to wear whatever he wanted, he didn’t know much about fashion until he was older. However, he was visually particular about things and people and would get frustrated about how people presented and carried themselves.
The most “designing” he did as a teenager was to buy press-on letters to make his own slogans on T-shirts. When he had to choose something to study in college, he chose fashion randomly – law was another option – and his parents didn't agree, saying the academic course made more sense.
In control
Tait likes being in control of every aspect of the design process. Credit: Wesley Kow
I mention how Tait designed the shoes that were part of his graduation collection that was shown at London Fashion Week and ask whether we could see Thomas Tait shoes in the future. “Shoes require certain machinery, you have to get them done in a factory. My relationship with the design of the shoes is slightly distant from the end result. It’s unlike clothes. I supervise my team and have my hands in everything I do, through every step of clothing being build. I control that during the season, pattern cutting and development. With shoes, you have an idea and got to give it to someone and hope for the best and trust them with the final product. It’s kind of a worrying process,” explains Tait.
Despite his “controlling” ways, the designer does hope to design shoes and also welcomes relinquishing control with open arms. “I can’t wait to have a bigger team. We are constantly running out of time and when spread out over so many areas and design processes, you are not working at 100 percent,” indicates Tait who brings up how having someone versed in business would help his brand.
Taking part in the LVMH Young Designer Prize competition has put him in contact with such individuals. He acknowledges how exciting the experience has been and tells me, “The minute you get to Paris, you realise you are working with the big guns. Everything is organised and taken care of, you are working with the top luxury company in the world. The 30 finalists presented to a team of experts from the industry. In 24 hours, you meet everyone from the business, it was a heavy rotation of all the most amazing stylists and journalists you can imagine.”
Instead of being intimidated, Tait is thoroughly engaging through the entire conversation and his quiet charm wins me over, the same way his runway collections have found favour with everyone in the fashion industry. And like everyone else, I can’t help rooting for the young designer.
The Thomas Tait Autumn Winter 2014 runway show will take place on May 17, 2014 at 9.30pm at the Tent@Orchard as part of the Audi Fashion Festival 2014 happening from May 14 to 18, 2014. Tickets are available at sistic.com. For more information, go to www.audifashionfestival.com. Get updates on AFF 2014 on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AudiFashionFestivalSingapore, on Twitter @AudiFashionFest and Instagram @AudiFashionFest and by following the hashtag #affsg.
For more information on Thomas Tait, go to www.thomastait.com. Follow the brand on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Thomas-Tait and Twitter @Taitthomas.