MILAN by Tre Milan Buchanan

Design Apprentice

Tre Milan Buchanan

started at SoHarlem in May, 2021, as a 19-year old graduate of the Bronx Compass High School, and one of 10 participants in the first post-pandemic training session for unemployed and underemployed New Yorkers. Our lead instructor, Harlem-based tailor Henry Smith, identified Tre as having exceptional promise, and a commitment, in need of definition, to pursuing a career as a designer. Tre then started as a Design Apprentice in August, spending a minimum of 30 hours at the Studio every two weeks. One of his first projects was to make pants, “a new challenge for me seeing as I was only an illustrator and not a garment maker. It took me three weeks to finish my pants. It has six pockets and two hidden pockets. For me, this is an important piece, my first as a designer, showing how an illustration can come to reality . . . in addition, thinking of myself as a visual artist, it has been especially gratifying bringing to the Studio team my skills as an illustrator and the role it can play in the design process”