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Tom Ford

Tom Ford, September 2009
Born	August 27, 1961 (age 48)1 Austin, Texas
Nationality	American
Education	Parsons The New School for Design
Labels	Cathy Hardwick, Perry Ellis, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford

Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford (born August 27, 1961)² is an American fashion designer and film director. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label.

Early life (1961–1986)

Ford was born August 27, 1961 in Austin, Texas, to realtors Tom Ford and Shirley Burton.³⁴ He spent his early life in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, and in San Marcos, outside Austin; his family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, when he was 11.⁵ In Santa Fe, he entered St. Michael's High School and later moved to Santa Fe Preparatory School, from which he graduated in 1979.⁶ Ford left Santa Fe at age 17, when he moved to New York City to study art history at New York University.⁷⁸

Ford dropped out of N.Y.U. after only a year, preferring to concentrate on acting in television commercials; at one time, he was in twelve national advertising campaigns simultaneously.⁴⁷⁹ Ford then began studying interior architecture at The New School's famous art and design college, Parsons The New School for Design.¹⁰ During his time in New York, Ford became a fixture at the legendary nightclub Studio 54, where he realized he was gay.¹¹¹² The club's disco-era glamor would be a major influence on his later designs.¹³¹⁴ Before his last year at New School, Ford spent six months in Paris, where he worked as an intern in Chloé's press office.¹⁵¹⁶ Though his work primarily involved sending clothes out on photo shoots, it triggered his love of fashion.¹⁶¹⁷ He spent his final year at The New School studying fashion, but nonetheless graduated with a degree in architecture.¹⁶¹⁷

Early career (1986–1994)

When interviewing for jobs after graduation, he said that he had attended The New School's Parsons division, but concealed that he graduated in architecture and that his work at Chloe was a low-level public relations position.¹⁸¹⁶ Despite his lack of experience, Ford called American designer Cathy Hardwick every day for a month in hopes of securing a job at her midprice sportswear company.¹⁹²⁰ Eventually, she agreed to see him. Hardwick later recalled the incident: "I had every intention of giving him no hope. I asked him who his favorite European designers were. He said, 'Armani and Chanel.' Months later I asked him why he said that, and he said, 'Because you were wearing something Armani'. Is it any wonder he got the job?"²⁰ Ford worked as a design assistant for Hardwick for two years.¹⁹¹⁶

In 1988, Ford moved to Perry Ellis, where he knew both Robert McDonald, the company's president, and Marc Jacobs, its designer, socially.¹⁶ He stayed at the company for two years, but grew tired of working in American fashion.¹⁸ In a later interview with the New York Times, he commented, "If I was ever going to become a good designer, I had to leave America. My own culture was inhibiting me. Too much style in America is tacky. It's looked down upon to be too stylish. Europeans, however, appreciate style."¹⁸

Ford would soon have the opportunity to enter the world of European fashion: Gucci, a faltering luxury goods company, was seeking to strengthen its women's ready-to-wear presence as a part of its brand overhaul.²¹ At the time, "no one would dream of wearing Gucci," said Dawn Mello, then the company's creative director.²² Mello hired Ford—then a near-unknown—as the brand's chief women's ready-to-wear designer in 1990.²³¹⁰ "I was talking to a lot of people, and most didn't want the job," Mello said. "For an American designer to move to Italy to join a company that was far from being a brand would have been pretty risky."²¹ Ford and his longtime partner, fashion journalist Richard Buckley, relocated to Milan that September.¹²

Ford's role at Gucci rapidly expanded: he was designing menswear within six months, and shoes soon after that.²¹ When Richard Lambertson left as design director in 1992, Ford took over his position, heading the brand's ready-to-wear, fragrances, image, advertising, and store design.²¹ In 1993, when he was in charge of designing eleven product lines, Ford worked eighteen-hour days.²⁴ During these years, there were creative tensions between Ford and Maurizio Gucci, the company's chairman and 50% owner.²⁵²⁶ According to Mello, "Maurizio always wanted everything to be round and brown, and Tom wanted to make it square and black."²⁵ Though Maurizio Gucci wanted to fire Ford, Domenico de Sole insisted that he remain.²⁷²⁸²⁹ Nonetheless, Ford's work during the early 1990s was primarily behind the scenes; his contributions to Gucci were overshadowed by those of Mello, who was the company's public face.³⁰³¹

Gucci and YSL creative director (1994–2004)

This section requires expansion.

In 1994, Ford was promoted to creative director. In his first year at the helm, he was credited with putting the glamour back into fashion introducing Halston-style velvet hipsters, skinny satin shirts and car-finish metallic patent boots. In 1995, he brought in French stylist Carine Roitfeld and photographer Mario Testino to create a series of new, modern ad campaigns for the company. Between 1995 and 1996, sales at Gucci increased by 90%.³²

By 1999, the house, which had been almost bankrupt when Ford joined, was valued at about $4.3 billion.

When Gucci acquired the house of Yves Saint-Laurent, Ford was named the creative director of that label as well. During his time as Creative Director for YSL, Ford won numerous Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards. Like his work at Gucci, Ford was able to catapult the classic fashion house back into the mainstream.

His advertising campaigns for the YSL fragrances Opium (with a red-haired Sophie Dahl completely naked wearing only a necklace and stiletto heels in a sexually suggestive pose) and YSL M7 (with martial arts champion Samuel de Cubber in complete full-frontal nudity) have been famous and provocative by pushing fragrance ads to a new level of creativity in artistic expression and commercial impact.
Some of his hats for Yves Saint Laurent were created by Prudence Millinery.

In April 2004, Ford parted ways with the Gucci group after he and CEO Domenico de Sole, who is credited as Ford's partner in the success story that is Gucci, failed to agree with PPR bosses over creative control of the Group.

Tom Ford (2004–present)

In April 2005, exactly one year after his dramatic departure from Gucci Group, Ford announced the creation of the TOM FORD brand. Ford was joined in this venture by former Gucci Group President and Chief Executive Officer Domenico De Sole who serves as Chairman of the company. As President and CEO of TOM FORD INTERNATIONAL, Ford announced his partnership with Marcolin Group, a global leader in the eyewear industry, to produce and distribute optical frames and sunglasses under the TOM FORD brand. That same day Ford and De Sole announced an alliance with Esteé Lauder to create the TOM FORD Beauty brand. In November 2006, Tom Ford introduced TOM FORD BLACK ORCHID, his first fragrance in the TOM FORD Beauty collection. In March 2007, he launched the TOM FORD PRIVATE BLEND Collection, an exclusive line of 12 unisex fragrances. Since then, there have been several new additions to this collection including Italian Cypress, Arabian Wood, Champaca Absolute, and Bois Marocain. TOM FORD FOR MEN, his eponymous men’s scent, launched in September 2007, followed by a second women’s scent, Tom Ford White Patchouli in September 2008. There were two successful launches in September 2009: a refined new men’s scent called TOM FORD GREY VETIVER, and the TOM FORD PRIVATE BLEND WHITE MUSK Collection, a collection of four musk-inspired scents.

In February 2006, Tom Ford announced an agreement with Ermenegildo Zegna Group for the production and worldwide distribution of luxury men’s ready-to-wear and made-to-measure clothing, footwear and accessories under the TOM FORD label. In April 2007, his first directly owned flagship store opened in New York at 845 Madison Avenue to coincide with the much anticipated debut of the signature TOM FORD menswear and accessory collection. Presently, there are 21 freestanding stores and shop-in-shops in locations such as Milan, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Dubai, Zurich and Russia.

In the summer of 2009, Ford also designed costumes for the world premiere of "The Letter" which was an opera performed six times only at the Santa Fe Opera.

Career as a film director

In March 2005, Ford announced the opening of his film production company, FADE TO BLACK. In 2009, Ford made his film directorial debut with A Single Man, which was based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. The film stars Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult and Matthew Goode. The screenplay was adapted by Ford and David Scearce. Ford also produced the film, which premiered on September 11, 2009 at the 66th Venice International Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Lion. Colin Firth, who plays the protagonist George, was awarded the Volpi Cup as Best Actor for his performance and was also nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Independent Spirit Award and Screen Actor's Guild award. He won the BAFTA for Best-Actor in a Leading role. Julianne Moore was nominated for Best Supporting actress and Abel Korzeniowski for Best Original Score at the Golden Globes. Tom Ford was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards in 2009 including Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay.

Personal life

Ford and his partner, journalist Richard Buckley, have been together for over 23 years. Buckley was the former Editor in Chief of Vogue Hommes International. They currently live in London, Santa Fe and Los Angeles.

Noted for his interest in modern architecture, Ford has commissioned houses from the Los Angeles firm of Marmol Radziner,³³ the Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza, and the Japanese architect Tadao Ando.

Awards and Nominations

Ford has been recognized by important design and cultural councils worldwide including the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum and TIME.

• 1995: International Award - Council of Fashion Designers of America
• 1999: Style Icon Award - Elle Style Awards UK
• 2000: Best International Designer - VH1/Vogue Awards
• 2000: Fashion Editors Club of Japan Award
• 2000: British GQ International Man of the Year Award
• 2000: Superstar Award - Fashion Group International
• 2001: Womenswear Designer of the Year - Council of Fashion Designers of America
• 2001: Best Fashion Designer - TIME Magazine
• 2001: Designer of the Year - GQ USA
• 2001: Board of Directors Special Tribute - Council of Fashion Designers of America
• 2002: Accessory Designer of the Year Award for Yves Saint-Laurent - Council of Fashion Designers of America
• 2003: Fashion Design Achievement Award - Cooper Hewitt Design Museum's National Design Awards
• 2004: Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award
• 2005: Andre Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award - Savannah College of Art & Design
• 2006: Accessory Brand Launch - Accessories Council Excellence (ACE) Awards ³⁴
• 2007: Vito Russo Award - GLAAD
• 2008: Menswear Designer of the Year - Council of Fashion Designers of America
• 2009: Venice Film Festival - Golden Lion for "A Single Man" (Nominee)
• 2009: Venice Film Festival - Queer Lion for "A Single Man"
• 2009: Critics Choice Awards - Best Adapted Screenplay (Nominee)
• 2009: Independent Spirit Awards - Best First Screenplay (Nominee)
• 2009: Independent Spirit Awards - Best First Feature (Nominee)
• 2009: Honored as one of GQ USA's Men of the Year
• 2009: GQ Germany Man of the Year

Further reading

• Tom Ford with Graydon Carter and Anna Wintour. Tom Ford. Thames & Hudson (2004). ISBN 0500511977.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tom Ford

• Official Tom Ford homepage
• Tom Ford fanpage
• Tom Ford at the Internet Movie Database