Still only 22, Thomas Tait graduated from the Central Saint Martins MA last year (as the youngest ever designer to do so) with an all-black collection that turned heads with its assured tailoring, sleek shapes and finest of fabrics. Now a star of fashion’s next generation, it could all have been very different for the Canadian – far from a long-cherished dream, Thomas’s decision to go into fashion design was a last minute thing. He grew up in Montreal, “dissatisfied with the way many people dressed but not realising that had anything to do with fashion. The idea I had of a fashion designer was pretty cheesy.” Later putting the two and two together was a “lightbulb moment”. Studying first at Collège LaSalle in Montréal, and then at CSM, Thomas debuted his vision of what people should wear with his stellar MA show. As well as plaudits, it won the inaugural Dorchester Prize – presented to him by judges including Manolo Blahnik, Giles Deacon and Daphne Guinness – and £25,000 prize money, which he used to stage his spring/summer 11 collection. Now Thomas is taking things slow for autumn/winter 11 – an evolution of his architectural style to classy evening pieces, perfect coats and chic pants all in ivory, navy and black – to start sales. And with Browns in London and 10 Corso Como in Seoul already placing orders, you could say he’s starting small but perfectly formed.
Text: Lauren Cochrane
Photography: Mark Kean
Styling: Zoe James
Hair Maarit Niemela at D + V Management using Aveda
Make-up Lotten Holmqvist at Julian Watson Agency using MAC
Styling assistance Amber Little
Retouching India May and Jon Hempstead
Set Design Suzanne Beirne
Model Ruby Jean Wilson at Premier
