Cory Tran: Grit, Glory and Glamour

A self-made man, award winning fashion designer, a respectable producer and an inspiring teacher, Cory Tran Lee is a man who wears many hats. In his career as fashion designer, he has presented himself on many prestigious runways and faced many challenges only because of the faith he has in himself.

By Ratan Priya · Oct 2020 · 4 min read

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There is hardly anything left for you to master in the fashion industry. Which part of it excites you the most?

I have been working in the fashion industry for more than a decade and there is a lot that excites me about it. The most exciting part is to be able to travel around the world to meet and work with so many celebrities.

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All the outfits designed by you always have their own distinct character. The flair of feathers, abstract structured panels, edgy ruffles and the ever present East Asian touch. What has been the greatest inspiration behind your designs?

I have loved haute couture since I was very young. My favourite designer is Alexander McQueen and mostly all my couture designs come from the love I have for my idol, McQueen. Now I take out time to teach my students about haute couture. Hopefully one day, my students would follow my step to create some amazing outfits.

Tell us something about your background. Did you always aspire to be a fashion designer?

I fell in love with fashion when I was 5 years old. I made many outfits to sell around in the neighbourhood at the age of 6. I was self-taught how to bead and how to make dresses till the time I was 9 when my family moved to the states. My parents never really wanted me to be a fashion designer so I had to pick electrical engineer instead. Then I moved to California around 2002 and by 2006, I started to design clothes in Tokyo. I made my first five outfits for Kelly Rowland in Los Angeles in 2007. I think, at that point my fashion career really picked up.

We know that so many celebrities around the world have donned outfits designed by you. Can you share the first time you saw that happen and how did it feel?

As I had mentioned earlier my first 5 outfits I had design for the comeback of singer, Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child. I was shocked when Kelly picked all five of my outfits for her shoot. Words couldn't describe how happy I was at that time. Kelly helped me to work with many big celebrities during that time period such as Pussycat Dolls, Brandy, Toni Braxton and Lady Gaga.

Being an award winning fashion designer, creating exquisite looks for models and celebrities, how does it feel to see yourself on magazine covers? And how does it feel to be the cover star of FHM Fit India?

Anything awarded to me is a blessing. This is such an honour to be on FHM Fit India cover star. Thank you for having me, I am very excited.

Going by your social media updates, it seems you spend a lot of time in gym. How many hours do you really spend working out?

I have been working out since I was 15 years old. Fitness and health are the two things I have to have in my daily routine. Normally, I wake up at 6 AM to run and do abs exercises for a couple of hours then at 5pm I work on my upper body for another couple of hours. Since I met with a car accident two months ago, it has been a challenge to get back to my normal routine but I’m slowly getting back at it and I’m giving my best

Do you have a specific work out regime? If yes, what is it?

Not really. I don't really have a specific workout regime.

How has keeping fit helped you in your personal and professional life?

Keeping fit is helping in my life: to feel better during release stress, to feel confident, and most importantly for being healthy.