Tan France has built a career around the transformative power of good design. He’s a fashion designer, author and TV icon, most well-known for his role on Netflix’s Queer Eye, but has since delved into the world of interior design to design his own home. That experience led to a recent partnership with iconic furniture brand Castlery to design a new stylish range.
We spoke to Tan about this newly released collaboration, as well as exploring the ins and outs of creativity, connection, joy, and where it all began.
Connection and joy through creativity
Creativity can be a genuinely joyful moment for many, and the same is true for Tan France. “For me, it means allowing my mental state to be calm. A lot of my job is creative, but whenever I’ve had jobs in the past that aren’t creative… it screws with my brain completely, and it gives me anxiety… Whereas if it’s just creative, it does something so calming to my soul.”
As lucky as he is that his career has been following a creative route, Tan believes that regardless of your occupation, “Everyone should have a creative outlet, even if it’s not your job. I think to have something that feels like a hobby, a craft or whatever, I think it just really does something to me, and can do something for everybody.”
Tan France’s beginning in creativity
Tan and I get to talking about formative memories around creativity, and the interrelation between joy, creativity and community. He shares a story about his childhood, when he was around 11-12 years old. He’d learned to sew at his grandfather’s factory and gotten rather proficient at it. “We didn’t have money, but there was a fabric store in our local town. I was the only boy that would go in, and I would just go and stare at fabrics all day.” He asked if they had any extra fabric and so started a relationship where they would give him remnants of fabric regularly. “The first thing I ever made was a dress for my sister, because we didn’t have the money to make her feel beautiful, but I knew I could. So, I did, and that changed my life really,” says Tan.
“It was the day I realised just what clothes can do to a person – regardless of a person’s budget – what that can do to a person’s self-esteem. I credit that moment there for everything I’ve achieved in my life, that you would have seen on television. I wouldn’t have done a Castlery collection if it wasn’t for that moment with my sister.”
It’s clear Tan is wildly creative, and he seems to be a genuinely kind and generous person. But to be able to hear about the joy he found through connecting with others and giving to others through his creativity – that was a bit of an aha moment on how important community can be, and how it can be strengthened through artistic expression.
“It gives you a reason to want to do more,” says Tan. “In my opinion, once you’ve got that one thing on, when you’ve got that one thing in your home, you’re like, ‘Gosh, that’s made me feel something. I want to feel this thing over and over again.’ I’m not talking about consumption. I’m talking about embracing something that feels like it was for you.”
That feel-good experience from finding your identity through creative means is something we explore deeply at BHG, and it was interesting to hear Tan’s take on it. We asked him if joy was something that comes to you, or something you build. “For me, it’s what I build. I’m so intentional about my mental state, keeping it positive. And so, I create space for joy, and I remind those around me that they can make a choice whether they want to lean into joy.”
“I try and highlight the things that can offer somebody joy as opposed to just focusing on the things that aren’t making them happy. For myself, it’s a constant practice. I know that I could very easily lean into the doom and gloom. I see – sorry, I’m going to swear – I see shit written about myself constantly,” he says. Tan tells us about the challenge of being in the public eye, and how he sees it impacting other people in the industry in really negative ways. “And don’t get me wrong, when I’m feeling at my lowest or my weakest, it can really hit me. But most of the time I think, gosh, but what about all those other things that are so positive in my life? They’re the things that will bring me joy. Yes, I might have just been raked over the coals for this thing, but I’ve got two babies downstairs who love me and bring me joy. And instead of [going] online and reading those comments, I can just go and play with my kids, and that’s going to bring me joy that this thing could never feed me. So, joy for me is a choice.”
“Joy for me is a choice.” – Tan France
Partnering with Castlery
Tan always said he wouldn’t do licensing unless he could really do it, and as someone with such extensive design experience, it was important he was intrinsically involved. “The [partnership] with Castlery was special because they made it really clear they wanted someone to actually design a collection”, says Tan.
“I want to show the audience who I am through this thing; I don’t want them for a second to be like, ‘I don’t think he designed that. He wouldn’t have that in his home, so why would he have designed it?’”
For this collaboration with Castlery, Tan wanted to design something that made it very clear: “I want every one of these pieces in my own home, or I will have every one of these pieces in my own home. Not just; I’m making this thing because I think it’s going to make someone some money.” When we joke about the priorities of the design over commercial revenue, Tan does admit, “I mean, I’m hoping it will all make a lot of money. But I’m hoping that there’s something for everyone there. I would like to believe that regardless of your aesthetic, you can find something that could work in your home.”
“I wanted to design something that made it very clear I want every one of these pieces in my own home… Not just I’m making this thing because I think it’s gonna make someone some money.” – Tan France
When asking him which item he would buy first from the collection, he opened up to us about a contractual clause. “I am very lucky in that I got to design the collection, but as part of the contract, I was like, ‘I want one of everything because I’m designing stuff that I love, so I want that.’ So, I get the collection.” He laughs, saying picking a favourite is actually a really hard question. “Let me just say this. If I didn’t love something, it wouldn’t have been part of the collection. If it wasn’t a favourite… There’s no way I wouldn’t put my name to it. My reputation is worth more than that,” he says.
“I’m crazy about every piece.” He reiterates. He does mention the convenience of the lamp as well as the rug, in that you don’t have to make a big-ticket decision to achieve a quick refresh to your space. He then starts listing through the range, including a beautiful green leather sofa with walnut wood elements that “are just chef’s kiss good”, that he envisions in a particular room in his soon-to-be New York home.
Tan made the trip to the Castlery head office in Singapore to touch, feel and sit on the product to really be confident in the quality and what the brand stood for, before he applied his creative ‘Tanified’ version. “I really wanted to bring my global aesthetic to this. I’m South Asian, I’m British, I live in America, have done for half of my life now. And so, my approach to design is so influenced by my global culture.”
How being a parent impacts Tan France’s design choices
Since becoming a parent, Tan says that design-wise, there’s so much that he can’t do because, he affectionately jokes, “those little brats will destroy it. My gosh, my youngest is determined to burn this house down before we sell it.” It means that when making design choices, he really has to consider the fabrication, the finish, and rounded edges on things because “he’s wild and does not look in the direction he’s running.” He also mentioned things like skirting boards have been carefully chosen to round them out more to avoid scuffs, and his priority has become what’s liveable and durable for his children, over just what’s aesthetically pleasing.
However, parameters – such as needing to design with kids in mind – is actually a helpful tool for Tan. “I don’t see it as a hurdle; I see it as, ‘Oh, you’re really testing my creativity here. Let me see what I can do that still makes the end product gorgeous but also super serves you.”
Balancing trend-based design and classic styling
There’s a similarity with the shifts in fashion and home interiors, and how the two can be very trend-driven, or classic in style. I ask Tan how he goes about balancing these competing elements. “My home is not a trendy home,” he says categorically. “It’s a very classic home. And I wanted it to feel like bougie grandma, even though I never had a bougie grandma.”
Tan doesn’t like the overconsumption that comes with being overly trendy, admitting to not actually changing his house in over three years. “I styled my house for it to be somewhat evergreen.” He says his fashion style isn’t too different in that sense. “I’ve stopped caring about what other people think is cool. I don’t care about a trend. I don’t want to spend money on a trend.
“That’s not how I want to live my life. I want to fill my home and my wardrobe with things that are me, not Instagram.”
“That’s not how I want to live my life. I want to fill my home and my wardrobe with things that are me, not Instagram.” – Tan France
Cooking with Tan France
While he might not be known for it, Tan is actually a keen cook. His go-to recipes include a lot of Indian food, especially dal. He humbly brags about positive reviews he’s had for his dal, but also tells us his mac and cheese is “next-level.” Tan is also a keen baker, and while we’re on the topic of humble brags, he admits he once was in training to be a professional baker and casually won the celebrity version of The Great British Bake Off.
Towards the end of our conversation, Tan admits the self-reflection delivers a realisation to him: “Oh my God, everything I do is creative. I think it’s why I’m such a smiley, happy person. I have so many creative outlets.” However, when it comes to another BHG pillar, gardening, Tan admits that’s where it all stops.
“I know that gardening is important to you guys. I need you to know that if the scoring chart was zero to 100, I’m legit at zero. Legit, just not for me. I will say that I did help design my garden. I can creatively direct a garden or a landscape so well, but I ain’t doing it.” Alluding to the fact that dirt could be a significant reason for that. “If any dirt gets on me, I’m out.” He does, however have plans in their next home to grow a vegetable and herb garden that will functionally serve their future kitchen.
How Tan stays mindful and positive
Tan’s British side comes out as he laughs in embarrassment about what he terms an ‘American thing’, in that he embraces positive affirmations. As a routine in the morning now, he brushes his teeth in front of the mirror and tells himself positive things, things he’s proud of that make him happy. He intentionally doesn’t focus on the horrible things that make him unhappy, acknowledging that he could very easily, but he chooses to “lean into the joy of the day.”
We talk about these mindful techniques and the tension between him being somewhat embarrassed to talk about them. Tan feels it stems from his British heritage, but beyond being stereotypically ‘British’ and perhaps traditionally reserved with their emotions, we agree that for anyone, it’s more important that they arrive there themselves rather than being forced into meditation, gratitude or other practices.
“If you had told me to do positive affirmations even 10 years ago, I‘d be like, ‘Jog on, get out of here’.” Tan agrees. “But also, there’s so much that could [bring you] down throughout the day, not just in my world, in anyone’s world. There’s so much that comes at us… I think it has to be a conscious practice.”
And being creative is perhaps one of those mindful techniques after all. But how does one build a more creatively joyful life? Tan shares that many people are busy, including himself, but that it’s about finding time and ways to be creative. These days, that involves writing as well as designing his home with his husband. His advice for others? “I would say, even if it’s just five minutes in the day.” Be it on the train or on a lunch break, “instead of just staying on social media, screw social media, do something creative.
“It could be whatever makes you calm and joyful…. I think that one can’t be creative without feeling joy, otherwise you’re not doing it right.”
“I think that one can’t be creative without feeling joy, otherwise you’re not doing it right.” – Tan France
Discover Tan France’s collaboration with Castlery on their website.
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