BFA Fashion Design student Dominic Tan hails from Singapore. Before coming to the Academy, Tan spent a year in the Republic of Singapore Navy as a corporal. During this time Tan was also awarded the 2008 Arts & Craft Bronze Award by the Singapore Youth Festival. For two years Tan was first a design intern and later a design consultant with several socially conscious design projects through the non-profit organization Design For. He also assisted alumna Seth C. Olson with sewing, pattern manipulation and printing textiles for his 2014 graduation collection. That same year, Tan received an honorable mention from the CFDA, was awarded a summer internship at Yigal Azrouël in New York, and made the Academy’s President’s Honor List.
Using ice dyed cotton blends in stripes and checks, Tan’s graduation collection draws from his Singaporean heritage. “I… looked for something embedded in our cultural wear and realized that we Singaporeans do not exactly have one. However, everyone of us have had to wear uniforms at some point in our lives, so I looked to the kinds of uniforms Singaporeans might wear to develop this collection,” Tan explained. One example of Tan’s result? A beautiful red chevron stripe vest over a pink shirt with mini red and white stripe overlap pant; After all, they say real men wear pink.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Dominic Tan: My sister once told me its okay to not take life too seriously.
What is your favorite memory of being in the School of Fashion?
DT: Going to Six Flags with my menswear friends during Spring Break for a really quick getaway.
What is your style motto?
DT: Find your voice when it comes to designing or dressing. Sometimes the end result is super weird, but what’s the point of being like everyone else?
By: Malcolm Thomas
