On the Horizon - Fabric Twinz

BL: This is Blak Labels sitting down with Ms. Tanise from Fabric Twinz and we are going to start off with the basics such as who is Tanise Francis?

Tanise Francis is a 26 years old African-American woman who decided to be a fashion designer in 2008 and started her company in 2009. I had a partner but we decided to go our separate way. She wanted to pursue music but I had a passion to continue growing the business.

BL: Who are some of your favorite designers?
Norma Kamali, Betsey Johnson is dope. Vera Wang is very dope. Umm…Tom Ford and Dolce & Gabbana.

BL: What are some of your favorite fashion websites, magazines, or books? Maybe you can add Blak Labels to the list. 
I will keep an eye out for Blak Labels but my favorite would have to be FashionBombDaily. I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Claire Sulmers.

BL: How would you define your personal style?
My style? Tanise’s style? Tanise is very glam and over the top. She tries to stay trendy but most of the time I’m over the top. Like whenever you see me out I’m always glammed out. I’m never in sweats. I can be going to the grocery store and you’ll see me in heels with jewelry on. Always glamorous that’s my style. [laughs]

BL: How would you define the style your line exemplifies?
As far as Fabric Twinz, we have two sides to our line. One is edgy and chic and the other is glamorous and trendy so it can relate to all women. That’s the reason for having two sides to our line.

BL: When did you realize you wanted to become a fashion designer?
Once upon a time I was actually modeling. I didn't like the fore front of being in the fashion industry ...the being on stage part. I was like “what are these people doing in the back? Why they getting a check and I’m not getting a check?’ ya know? Plus my mom said I had the passion for fashion and I didn't like wearing what everybody else was wearing. So it was two things that kind of got me switching from being a lawyer for law to fashion designing, the other being my friend passing away in college. I remember him telling me do whatever makes you happy. When he passed away I was like ‘Ya know what? I’m going to go back to NYC and try designing.’ I didn't want to go back to modeling; I wanted to do what these people are doing. I wanted to dress the model AND get the check.

BL: What is your ultimate fashion goal for Fabric Twinz? 
The goal is to definitely be a household name. To be in stores like Nordstrom, Bloomingdale, to sell more at different specialty boutiques, you know…different sites. Just to be a household name like other brands. I.e., Norma Kamali, Versace, Tom Ford…yea.

BL: So do you see that for your line within 5 years from now?

I definitely see it…well, right now, we are featured in a few stores. One in Alabama, Atlanta…uh…there’s so many. One in New Jersey, one in Brooklyn. We are featured in a few stores but I want to be featured in more stores. I want our brand, again, to be a household name and to have a store of our own. Not here in New York, maybe here in New York but you know its over saturated in New York. So I want to go somewhere there is a void in the fashion market like Texas or Atlanta. Well, Atlanta starting to be over saturated with designers as well so maybe just Texas [laughter].


BL: Where do you get your inspiration? I know on the site you mentioned that you get most of your ideas from New York City but the city is so vast maybe you look at a picture and say 'Hey! That's going to be my next dress.'
Funny thing is that we look at different eras and decades to pull inspiration. So our past spring collection, and before that and before that those collections were inspired by the decades. So we had an 80s inspired line, 90s inspired line which were awesome because people like the style from those eras. It was like vintage but we modernized it. 

BL: I know you definitely have an online boutique. I've noticed you have two sites listed: Fifth Ave boutique and Fabric Twinz. I checked out both but what’s the difference between the two?
Good question. Fifth Ave came about because people kept asking me for menswear, do I know different brands, different designers that maybe does swimwear or does different type of clothing. So I created Fifth Ave boutique, even though we didn’t fully develop it, in which it’s going to feature men designers, shoes, and different designers as far as couture designers, ready-to-wear designers and then you will have Fabric Twinz featuring. It’s a platform for independent designers. So that’s the difference. Fabric Twinz is more of a custom brand where you come to get custom made dresses.

BL: Ok, ok! I will definitely keep a closer attention to Fifth Ave in the future! However, with the creation of this particular boutique, will this spawn a new line for menswear by the Fabric Twinz?

Yes. The name of our up-coming men line is Twice Born we just haven’t did that yet. I don’t know what we’re waiting for maybe Christmas (laughs). I don’t know but we have the name already it’s called Twice Born. We just have to start it and develop it. Plus I think it would be great. We have a great men following 

BL: From the site it shows you dressed a few celebrities such as Love & Hip Hop NY star Tahiry Jose. Who would you say is your favorite celebrity client you love to dress?
My favorite client…it’s actually…well, in these interviews you’re not supposed to say who you’re favorite. You’re supposed to love them all! [laughter] But I mean, I love Shaunie because I feel she definitely represent the brand as a whole as a sophisticated woman. And umm…Lil’Kim. She’s iconic and you gotta love Kim.

BL: I mean she is due to have a baby and everything, I’m pretty sure once she gives birth she will be hitting the gym. You can hit her up and go “Hey Kim girl! Red carpet! I got you!”

My dad was like you need to go make her a maternity dress. I’m like oh man, here we go! [laughs] Lil Kim was a great person to work with. She definitely called me ‘the Vera Wang of the African American designers’. So that was cute. You know, to hear her say that is to show appreciation for the hard work that’s been put into this because its not easy ya know? So…yea she was dope. K.Michelle she was great as well. Tahiry was real dope I mean everybody who I’ve met was pretty nice. 

BL: Ok, let’s get a little deep here. My blog, Blak Labels, as I mentioned before, is about exposing designers/entrepreneurs of color within the fashion industry. Why do you feel black designers are not well known as their counterparts?
Because…that’s a good question…because the industry won’t allow us and this was said by Kanye West. You can have as much money in the world, like Kanye West did, but the people that are in industry the big designers, the big consumers or the big buy-ins will not allow African American designers to come into that field. So that’s the reason why we can’t get in. If like Diddy was the mecca of fashion we’ll all have the ability to progress in this business but unfortunately, that’s not who running the game. We already got music, we already have style. We have everything so if you put us in fashion you already know.  Any designer wants to be a household name, but me, I am here for the people. It sounds corny [laughs] but I’m here for my clients. I just give them what they want and make them happy. I’m not trying to be the biggest African American designer, I mean that would be awesome but it’s mainly about the clients.

BL: That’s interesting of you to say that you agree with Kanye West since a lot of people really don’t listen to him because they believe he is just being cynical and ranting per usual.
That’s definitely from observation and when he said it it just made me feel that I’m not crazy. I mean we’re both Geminis but I see what he’s been saying.

BL: What can we expect from Fabric Twinz for next season?

Next season, definitely a Fashion Week show. Getting into more stores and new ideas. We have something currently in the works.

BL: Sneak Peeks?
[laughter] I’ll just say fluorescent, glow-in-the-dark... like its going to be pretty awesome so…that’s coming soon

BL: What advice do you have for aspiring fashion designers?

It’s not easy and…if you’re not going to put a lot of dedication into it don’t waste your time. I would say you have to give up whatever you’re doing if you really want to be a designer and it doesn't happen overnight. There’s a lot of marketing that goes behind it. You have to know how to market your brand in order to have followers to get steady clientele. We say P.I.A in our company: Professionalism, Integrity and Appearance. Be professional, have integrity and make sure your appearance reflect your brand. There are a lot of steps to really being a fashion designer but if you put dedication and time into it you can achieve. Oh, and network! Definitely network that’s a big one! Get to know people. I knew a lot of stylists which is how I was able to get my designs to a few celebrities. So if you want to talk about the celebrity aspects of it then get to know a lot of stylists.  

Make sure you follow Tanise on Instagram and Twitter, @fabrictwinz and check out her Facebook page!  Also visit both her sites, Fifth Ave Boutique and The Fabric Twinz to get your next outfit for your next big night out!

Two snaps for Ms. Tanise Francis, making every NY woman chic and glam one dress at a time!