Before Netflix’s Queer Eye reboot, the Fab Five were just like us - only way better dressed and with perfect hair. But since the series has gone on to become a hit, the stars’ lives have completely changed. Here’s what Queer Eye star Tan France did before joining the Fab Five.
The stars of Netflix’s Queer Eye - a reboot of Bravo’s Queer Eye For The Straight Guy - became overnight sensations after the show premiered in 2018. Already in its fifth season, Queer Eye centers on the Fab Five - including France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown, and Bobby Berk - who help people reinvent themselves - upgrading their wardrobe, improving their grooming habits, and sorting through their personal demons. France’s focus on Queer Eye is styling. He takes the “heroes,” the subjects on the show, on a shopping spree, helping them find clothing that makes them feel confident. And he, of course, teaches them how to do a French tuck - a slight tuck of one’s shirt that is supposed to make a person look more put together, and France’s signature move. As a longtime lover of fashion, it makes sense France has decided to make clothing his life’s work.
Born in Doncaster, England, to Pakistani parents, France has loved fashion from an early age. When he was 9 years old, he helped make jeans and denim jackets for Disney in his grandfather’s factory. As a teenager, France began designing his own clothing, and went on to attend the school for Fashion Design in England. In his decade-plus fashion career to follow, France worked for Zara and Chanel, was the director of Shade Clothing, and founded Kingdom & Slate, a women’s clothing line, in 2011. Two years later, France moved his clothing line from England to the US, in 2013.
Kingdom & State was such a success that France sold it and retired, according to Refinery29, at the age of 33. He told Refinery29 that he was able to retire so young because of sound business decisions and being frugal. While he was always traveling in his early 20s to keep his business going, France now lives a more settled married life in Utah. Once a New Yorker, France lives in Salt Lake City with his husband, illustrator Rob France. He ended up in Utah after visiting a friend there once a long time ago and vowing to one day move to the city. In the years following, he’d visit frequently, and eventually ended up meeting and marrying his now-husband. In addition to Queer Eye, France also appears in a Netflix YouTube series, Dressing Funny with France.
Given France’s longtime passion for fashion - and his family’s ties to the industry - it seems like he was destined to be the world famous fashion icon he is today. While he might have imaged a quiet retired life at 33, France got the complete opposite of that once Queer Eye came along. But surely the star wouldn’t want it any other way.
Next: Queer Eye’s Jonathan Adopts 2 Kittens After Cat’s Sudden Death
Source: Refinery29, Refinery29, Daily Herald
