Kendrick Tran’s runway debut is a celebration of authenticity, inclusivity and compassion 

By Harrison Clarke

I came to Fashion Art Toronto (FAT) to speak with Kendrick Tran but most of what I did that day was take orders. When I went backstage that night, I stepped into a dream wrapped in white silk and pinstripe-printed cotton fabrics, safety-pinned together by Tran’s focus. A storm burned around him, assistants asked for guidance, and showrunners asked for updates, yet Tran held his ground within its center; stone-faced as he adjusted the backing of a model’s dress. Lightning struck when his first words to me were, “ Do you want to help?”I could feel the electricity in those words reverberating around the room, signalling that something magical was about to happen.

The name and concept for the beauty that ensued is “Who Am I Really?,” a collection of 16 looks ranging from silk dresses with risqué cut-outs and cropped businesswear to a series of hoodies stacked on top of each other. Despite the clothes being named after such an internal question, there was a deep sense of community surrounding me. Tran told me that his community informed the sense of self behind this collection.

“Ultimately, one day, my friend Majestic was like, ‘I see you, I see all the work you’re doing but who are you though? I don’t feel you.’” Tran said. “That spiralled into a collection. It’s years of work and self-exploration coming into one final moment. Going through years of dissatisfaction really shifted a self-realization as to who I am as a person and what I have to add to people’s lives.”

As for his team and some of the models? They were all handpicked from Tran’s life — people who helped him get to where he is today.

“The collection featured my chosen family,” Tran said. “These are the people and moments that have changed my life in the past years, this is really a celebration of my life and what it’s been in 24 years.”

During Tran’s childhood, his mother was the one who first taught him to celebrate his identity through fashion. Despite coming from a lower-income household, Tran said she strove for her children to feel like they were a part of a larger community. Dressing them in big-label brands helped him to understand the power of presentation and the ways it can foster or hinder inclusivity.

“Even though we were lower-class immigrants, she was very serious about wearing GAP, Gymboree and matching sets,” Tran said. “Without even realizing it, she started an attention to detail within me.”

This detail is most apparent in the way “KENDRICK TRAN” labels are sewn on the outside of the clothing. Written in blaring white, bold Arial font, the name stands proud against a backdrop of solid black cotton. For Western European brands, logomania means exclusivity. For example, Alessandro Michele’s Gucci made it a class-defining symbol by studding the printed ‘G’s with Swarovski crystals on the garments. Tran’s label is instead in a format that anyone can relate to.

“My brand is about compassion and subverting the snobby, harsh attitude people associate with fashion,” Tran said. “I do fashion ‘cause I love it.”

The road to creating something genuine doesn’t come without obstacles. The start of his fashion journey was filled with challenging turns as a salesperson and visual supervisor at various stores. Although sales was never at the heart of his ambitions, being able to touch and breathe the essence of the clothing was enough for a while. Through studying the pieces he was selling, he taught himself to design clothing. He applied these skills as a design intern at a sought-after Toronto luxury design label but after he was let go, he felt his fashion dreams come to a halt.

“I felt like I had just started my career and then when it was gone. It felt like an illusion,” he said.

This crushing feeling is instrumental in Tran’s conceptualizing process. In his own words, his art is about personifying dreams and trauma, and no subject is too sensitive to incorporate. Take the stacked hoodie for example; the fabric is double-lined and dense like a blanket, paired with a heavy zipper that stretches its shape the more it’s worn. This look was inspired by the feeling of languishing in bed all day during a peak of depression.

“As someone that struggles with depression and ADHD, there’s a lot of pressure,” Tran said. “So for me when I think about what it’s like to have a mental health issue, I think about your brain being smushed, your brain being stepped on. How can I physically manifest fabric twisting on the body to represent that tension?”

For Tran, dreams seem to prevail over trauma. He has already started production for his next collection. This one will feature a lighter, cropped version of the hoodie perfect for summertime partying.

Tran sows his life intricately into the designs, some of which are lifted directly from specific experiences he’s had. Look two of his runway show was a white satin dress that drapes seamlessly over the body like fog rolling through a forest. A high collar stretches the fabric across the shoulders, encasing the chest in shining, silver armour. A golden seashell overflowing with pearls hangs from a chain on the backside, a centrepiece within the draping, deep ‘V’ that reaches the bum.

“My friend asked me to design their cousin’s prom dress. Right after she said that, I sketched out this dress,” Tran said. “Then this opportunity came and I figured I’ll make it in white and make it a wedding dress.”

While spending his whole life conceptualizing this collection, it took him over a year to put the work together. Every piece was made locally at a women-owned factory where he spent the majority of his days and nights. In a time where the creativity of the fashion industry is overshadowed by economic pursuit (think: Balenciaga x Erewhon, creative directors playing musical chairs), Tran’s focus on using his whole life as inspiration is indicative of designers trying to slow the industry down. 

I used to value fashion for the ways it created gated communities; in search of a place to belong, I figured that I feel safest behind the castle walls of cultural currency. I would spend hours looming over my laptop screen, downloading information on ways I could be one of the elites despite feeling like an outsider. On the contrary, my time spent with Tran made me feel special in my body and mind without having to change anything about myself. His clothes, his work ethic and the community he builds, which I am proud to be a part of, teach that the most luxurious gift you can own is self-love. Just like his clothes, this gift fits all colours, all sizes and all classes.