Tom Ford
Join now to read essay Tom Ford
DESIGNER’S
PROFILE
TOM FORD
Born in Texas in 1962, Tom Ford went on to become arguably the most influential designer of the last decade. Having initially trained as an actor, he studied interior architecture at Parsons School of Design until 1986, and went on to take positions at Perry Ellis and Cathy Hardwick, before joining Gucci in 1990.
Ford was hired by Guccis then creative director Dawn Mello as chief womens ready-to-wear designer, and later appointed design director. When, in 1994, Gucci was acquired by a Bahrain-based investment firm called Investcorp, Ford was promoted to creative director and moved to Milan with his partner, journalist Richard Buckley.
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. By 1999, the house, which had been almost bankrupt when Ford joined, was valued at about $4.3 billion. “We didnt even have a photocopier at one stage,” he admits. “We didnt have any paper.” In 2000, Ford was named Best International Designer at the first VH1/Vogue Awards in New York.
After Gucci bought a controlling stake in Yves Saint Laurent, Ford was appointed creative director of YSL, too, and communications director of the houses ready-to-wear business, while continuing to design for Gucci. A mighty challenge certainly, but Ford was adamant he could keep the two labels distinct. “Historically, [Gucci] is Sophia Loren. Yves Saint Laurent is Catherine Deneuve. Theyre both sexy,” he told British Vogue in February 2001. “Its just that Gucci is a little more obvious than Saint Laurent. The YSL woman might tie her boyfriend up and drip hot wax on him before they have sex, for instance. The Gucci woman is just going to have sex.”
Ford believes that he owes his success not to talent, but to his energy. He admits to sleeping just two or three hours per night, keeping post-it notes beside the bed in case he wakes up with an idea. “There are many more talented designers than me,” he once told an audience at the V&A in London. “But I have a lot of drive and wont let it go.” He also credits his “mainstream” appeal. “Im lucky, I have mass-market tastes,” he says. “When I say I like a shoe, generally thousands of people will like it. Thank God, because I would have been a very unhappy person if I hadnt had this kind of success.”
But others see it quite differently, saying that Fords secret is the combination of a fine commercial sensibility and a genuine feel for fashion: in his present role at Gucci, he designs shoes, watches, luggage