Meet Albert Tran | Fashion Creator & Model

We had the good fortune of connecting with Albert Tran and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Albert, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley. Growing up, I was around a lot of Asian people, whether it’d be going to school, the grocery store, local restaurants, etc. From there, I feel like it sheltered my mindset in a lot of ways because where I live is very peaceful and quiet, yet conservative and judgmental at the same time. I never really felt I could confidently express myself how I wanted to because I was so scared of what other people might react/think about me, since everyone dressed the same and it was a predominantly heterosexual environment.

This is in combination of how I was raised in my family. My family is relatively conservative and traditional in a lot of ways, so it was difficult to showcase who I wanted to be and how I wanted to express myself. I was also a very quiet, shy, and awkward kid growing up, where I didn’t have many friends, and I wasn’t close to any of my family members, so it was hard for me to find my “place in the world”. I was struggling with my emotions and had depression early on in my childhood, so I went to therapy at the age of 11 and remained until my senior year of high school. It was also hard because I didn’t have anyone I could look up to, nor could I confide in, so I kept to myself most of the time.

Until the pandemic hit, and that’s when I discovered my love for fashion. I had always been intrigued by clothing because I felt like it was one of the things I was able to confidently express myself with. With the help of social media, I followed many fashion influencers I admired at the time and basically reworked my entire wardrobe. From there, I got the courage to do fashion content on social media. I first started taking pictures on my sidewalk in my conservative neighborhood wearing these bright colorful suits and outfits.

As I started to get more confidence and identifying what I enjoyed wearing, I experimented with more feminine clothing items such as wearing more pink, styling skirts in my outfits, and incorporated different types of purses/bags into my outfits. From there, I just started to make more videos about defying the societal standards of what it means to be masculine and feminine, but also showcasing in the conservative neighborhood I was always so scared of expressing myself in when growing up. I obtained the courage to wear these unique fashion pieces that a lot of the people living around me would and don’t ever wear.

Looking back, I am proud of my confidence growing as I bloomed into an adult. From a person who was always so scared of what other might think to showcasing my unique outfits online in public is a wild transformation. Now, I get to inspire so many other young queer folk who may be going through the exact same path as I did to express themselves and to confidently showcase their amazing fashion. I get to be a role model for those when I didn’t have one myself growing up.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As an artist and creative, I feel like I have had an interesting path because I’ve always known myself to be a very creative person, but I never had the opportunity/privilege to be able to pursue an artistic career.

Growing up as an Asian-American, I would constantly hear from my family or other Asian families that their children needed to become lawyers, doctors, engineers, or something related to a traditional career where you can work 9-5. I felt pressured to have to make my family proud and to financially support them in any way I could.

But, for me, I felt different from that. Of course, I want to be able to have consistent income and have a stable job in the future where I can make that kind of money. It was definitely not an easy choice because I felt stuck in between two worlds and it took a long time for me to figure out what I wanted. However, I enjoy what I do now and I get to be excited about consistently creating and stepping outside of my comfort zone when it comes to that.

It took a long time of reflecting and deciding whether or not I wanted to pursue a career related to something artistic, but I felt I would be wasting my skills if I didn’t try to pursue one. In addition, with social media and content creation, I almost felt like I could apply my abilities to become a role model for other people and have a positive impact on the world.

Now that I am in my 20s, I feel I have learned a lot of lessons that it’s okay to not have everything figured out and that life is way too short to keep on doing something that doesn’t fulfill you (if you have the privilege to do so). I’ve also learned that I am always learning new things about myself when I am creating. I am allowing myself the ability to take breaks when needed. Lastly, I’ve learned a lot about commitment and dedication when it comes to building your craft as an artist as well as showcasing who I want to represent for the world.

In relation to that, I really want the world to live their life in color because you only live one life and why live your life for someone else when you could that for yourself. Stay true to who you are and learn about what you want because that comes out in your art. Lastly, men need to wear more skirts and crop tops.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend were to visit Los Angeles, I definitely would want to take them to a lot of cool scenery and places I have either been or have been wanting to go for a long time.

First, I would take them to one of the beaches in California in either Malibu or Laguna Beach because they have cute beach spots as well as I find them not being too crowded and full of trash everywhere. In addition, I would even take them to Crystal Cove because I haven’t been, but I definitely would want us to experience that scenery together since I’ve always wanted to go there. We would have a cute little picnic by the beach or even visit the park around that area.

I feel like they also have to visit Universal Studios or Disneyland as a place to visit and have fun at because you can’t go wrong with amusement parks especially at Universal where you get to experience a lot of cool adventures like their Studio Tour.

In terms of going out and drinking, I definitely would want them to explore the West Hollywood nightlife because I’ve been there before when I was in college and it was super fun! I would take my best friend to Hamburger Mary’s and watch a drag show together. Then either on a separate night or even on the same night, we could go out drinking and club hop to different parts of West Hollywood or even the Long Beach area since it also has a good nightlife.

For eating, I personally love Asian food a lot, particularly Korean food so I would take my best friend to a spot near me where they serve the best tofu soups and have great banchan to go along with the tofu soup. I always take any of my newest friends or even friends that haven’t had tofu soup to this spot because it’s one of my all-time comfort restaurants I enjoy going alone. It’s not too expensive and it fills you up pretty quickly especially with all of the side dishes they serve.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I really want to dedicate my shoutout towards two groups of people; my friends and my loving community I have built on social media.

All of my friends have always been supportive of me as a person whether it’d be personally, professionally, or academically. They have been with me through thick and thin and always uplifted me whenever I needed guidance. They have shaped who I am as a person and the type of individual I continuously want to be because I constantly learn/grow from them. They allow me to express myself authentically and don’t ever negatively look down or demean me for who I am.

My loving community I have grown on social media is another group I want to shoutout because without them, I wouldn’t have the ability to have a huge platform and have a voice. There are the ones who have supported me whenever there’s negative, mean comments on my page and shines down a ray of light. They inspire me every day to be who I am because I get to inspire them to be who they are whether it’d be through their sexual orientation or through the outfits they proudly want to wear. So many of my audience members have showed me that I have had a positive impact on them. I am incredibly grateful for my community because they also uplift me whenever I feel like giving up.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/albe.faerie

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@albe.faerie

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@aesthetic.albert
Email: albert.tran45@gmail.com

Image Credits
Nikita Melvil
Byivantaged