Before completing a Master of Arts in womenswear at the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, this Canadian-born U.K. expat cut his design chops at Montreal’s LaSalle College. Now Thomas Tait (thomastait.com) is a ready-to-wear whiz kid on the international fashion scene, churning out strong, tailored pieces in mostly soft silhouettes.
What was the most valuable thing you learned at LaSalle? “How to make clothes. I had no idea how technical the course would be. I was literally scared of the sewing machine for quite a while.” Your graduate project was a beautiful exploration of human angles: collarbones, hip bones, shoulders. “There was definitely an elaboration on silhouette in my Fall 2011 collection. It was insanely hard to do, but I loved it in the end.”
What were your design inspirations? “I just do what feels right. There are often short visuals that run in my head, like mini film trailers on repeat. I think I wanted to do something that felt a bit slowed down. I don’t have the motivation to pull out all the creative stops in one go.”
How would you describe your style in three words? “Personal. Focused. Beauty.”
What is the most important thing we should know about you? “The degree of separation between who I am personally and who I am professionally is still very narrow. It’s really just who I am and what I love.”
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