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Fieldston Style Files: Tanya Taylor

5 mins read
Source: Tanya Taylor Website

If you were to walk into Tanya Taylor’s Madison Avenue storefront, you would immediately be immersed into a world of chic designs, vibrant patterns and, most important of all, a space that fits her brand’s mission to “create clothing that inspires confidence, celebration, and community.”

“I get to use my imagination ten hours of the day, which is pretty cool,” Taylor told me when I recently had the honor of interviewing her. The Canadian fashion designer, now based in New York City, has dreamed up two labels: the namesake Tanya Taylor and her newly-launched evening wear company, Delphine. She traces part of her dedication and creativity back to her roots growing up in an entrepreneurial family in Toronto. Taylor shared, “Sitting around a dining room table and talking about what they were building and all the people they got to work with and how they could really bring their values into different companies, just left a big impression on me.” 

The valuable lessons learned from her family combined with her childhood love for arts and crafts left the perfect foundation for a clothing brand in the making, but there was something missing- “I didn’t have any of the skills to know how to sew or how to design a collection,” said Taylor. After graduating from McGill University, where she majored in finance, Taylor attended Parsons School of Design in New York City, which taught her the fashion basics. While at Parsons, she interned for Mary Kate and Ashley Olson’s The Row and Elizabeth and James. 

In 2012, Taylor started her own brand. Starting a label is no easy feat for any designer, and she shared that it was in “an age where I had not yet formed all of my confidence.” What overpowered the difficulties of launching a new company was the unbeatable, rewarding sensation of when people began wearing and appreciating her very own designs. When Michelle Obama asked her to wear her designs, she could confirm that her brand was truly starting to gain popularity. She described to me, “Michelle Obama started wearing our dresses a lot. (…) Out of nowhere, she wrote me an email from a Gmail address.”

 Michelle Obama in Tanya Taylor (Source: Vogue)

Taylor recognizes that her success can be attributed to her “strong sense of self.” She mentioned, “I’ve always tried to lead with a lot of kindness, a lot of collaboration on the team. I think I’ve had to be really resilient and very dedicated.” She takes this into account when creating each collection, while still ensuring that her designs are tailored to what her customers have liked in the past, size inclusive and have a wide range of prices. These aspects are what makes Taylor’s brand unique and further support her mission. She also thoughtfully thinks about key components like color and texture. 

Tanya Taylor Spring 2014 *Taylor’s favorite collection (Source: Tanya Taylor Website)

She compares her new brand of party dresses launched in November of 2024, Delphine, to a “really fun playground.” It is an alternate personality- a way for her “to get to be a lot more playful, a lot more extravagant.” The dresses of Delphine are glamorous and elegant, and still remain fun and perfect for all ages.

Source: Delphine Website

Taylor’s career thus far has epitomized what it means to stay true to oneself and to lean into one’s interests. She encourages Fieldston students to do the same by acknowledging that before anything else, it is important for a person to understand how “you don’t need a lot to express who you are.” Once one understands who they are, “the most important thing in any career is to put in a lot of effort,” and this is exactly what Taylor continues to do.

Source: Tanya Taylor Website

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