Tom Ford
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| Tom Ford | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 27, 1961 Austin, Texas |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Parsons School for Design |
| Labels | Tom Ford |
| Awards | American Fashion Designer of the Year for 2001 |
Thomas Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label, becoming one of the world's most influential designers.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Ford was born in Austin, Texas and grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he graduated from Santa Fe Preparatory School in 1979. After studying at New York University and then Parsons School of Design in 1986, initially having studied architecture, he took design jobs with Cathy Hardwick and Perry Ellis under designer Marc Jacobs.
[edit] Personal life
Ford and his partner, journalist Richard Buckley, have been together for over 20 years. Buckley was the former Editor in Chief of Vogue Hommes International.
Noted for his interest in modern architecture, Ford has commissioned houses from the Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza, the Japanese architect Tadao Ando and the award winning Los Angeles firm of Marmol-Radziner and Associates.
[edit] Fashion career
[edit] Gucci
In 1990, Ford was hired by Gucci's then creative director Dawn Mello as chief women's 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 glamor 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.
[edit] Yves Saint-Laurent
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 infamous and provocative by pushing fragrance ads to a new level of creativity in artistic expression and commercial impact.
[edit] Gucci & YSL departure
In April 2004, Ford parted company 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. His final show for YSL was a celebrity-studded affair as fans, including fellow designers Diane von Furstenberg, Valentino, Oscar de la Renta, Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney gathered to support and celebrate Ford's work.
Having made no secret of the fact that he didn't expect to be designing forever, Ford was rumoured to be making a beeline for Hollywood when his Gucci reign came to an end.
[edit] Tom Ford
Following his departure from Gucci (and YSL), Ford opened the fashion house, Tom Ford.[1] Beginning with accessories, Ford laid the groundwork for his swiftly-growing fashion empire. While all facets of his label have been received incredibly well, his line of eyewear were the first of his collection to really take-off, with virtually every celebrity from Brad Pitt, Lindsay Lohan, and Madonna to Joaquin Phoenix, Jennifer Aniston and Sally Field being huge fans of his eyewear collections.
On multiple occasions, George Clooney has stated his fondness for Ford's menswear designs. While the Council of Fashion Designers of America has yet to recognize Ford's new fashion house, the likes of a nomination will be possible when the Tom Ford label broadens its designs to cover womenswear, a direction Ford has already mapped out.
The Tom Ford line now covers Menswear, Beauty, Eyewear, and both Men and Women's Accessories.
Ford's first 'Tom Ford' flagship store opened on April 12, 2007 at 845 Madison Avenue in New York City. The store carries his new, high level luxury menswear, including suits, ties, shirts, knitwear, outerwear, accessories, luggage, and small leather goods. The clothing is exclusive to the Madison store. In recent updates, the designers' website has updated a list of locations where the menswear will be sold. Locations include Belgium, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Monaco, Qatar, Spain, and The United Kingdom just to name a few. Most of these locations will only carry the Tom Ford name under license but additional flagship stores are planned to open in large, populated locations such as Japan and Milan, Italy.
[edit] Tom Ford Beauty
Launched in Fall 2006, Tom Ford Beauty is a luxury brand of fragrances comprising Tom Ford Black Orchid, and a secondary floral edition Tom Ford Black Orchid Voile de Fleur; Private Blend, a twelve-piece unisex fragrance collection; and a new men's scent, Tom Ford for Men along with its more intense version, Tom Ford for Men Extreme. Each scent was designed and developed by the designer himself.
Tom Ford describes the Private Blend collection as his own "scent laboratory." The collection, which he states was "designed with the true fragrance connoisseur in mind", includes:
- Amber Absolute
- Noir de Noir
- Black Violet
- Velvet Gardenia
- Tobacco Vanille
- Oud Wood
- Moss Breches
- Bois Rouge
- Purple Patchouli
- Tuscan Leather
- Neroli Portofino
- Japan Noir
Tom Ford chose to promote his mens fragrance debut with a very provocative advertising campaign featuring the fragrance bottle placed between the dewy breasts and thighs of a naked woman. The suggestive nature of the ads mimic the designer's previous creative choices, which made him infamous, back when he was at the helm of Gucci and YSL.
[edit] Vanity Fair
In early 2006, Ford was asked to be the guest editor and creative director for the February 2006 Hollywood edition of Vanity Fair. The cover was originally planned to showcase three of Hollywood's most promising young actresses — Keira Knightley, Scarlett Johansson, and Rachel McAdams. Once shooting began, however, it was quickly decided that the girls should appear in the nude. McAdams was not satisfied with this decision and was excluded from the shot after refusing to remove her clothing. Feeling the photo needed more than two people, Ford stepped in and replaced McAdams.[2] The issue generated criticism, with many claiming that it further perpetuated the need for Hollywood actresses to be sexual icons, since the edition featured no nude actors inside the magazine while featuring several nude actresses, including Angelina Jolie.
[edit] Awards
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
- 2000: Best International Designer - VH1/Vogue Awards
- 2001: Womenswear Designer of the Year - Council of Fashion Designers of America
- 2002: Accessory Designer of the Year Award for Yves Saint-Laurent - Council of Fashion Designers of America
- 2005: André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award - Savannah College of Art and Design [3]
- 2006: Accessory Brand Launch - Accessories Council Excellence (ACE) Awards [4]
- 2008: Menswear Designer of the Year - Council of Fashion Designers of America [5]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ La Ferla, Ruth. - Business: "Tom Ford, Clothing Designer, Will Open Store of His Own". - New York Times. - February 28, 2006. - Retrieved: October 12, 2007
- ^ Entertainment: "Johansson, Knightley Bare All for Mag Cover". - Associated Press. - (c/o Fox News). - February 22, 2006. - Retrieved: October 12, 2007
- ^ Award named after American Vogue Editor-at-Large, André Leon Talley
- ^ The Accessories Council Excellence (ACE) Awards - Accessories Council
- ^ Won this award after only his first year on the menswear scene with his own private label. He beat out fellow nominees Thom Browne and Michael Bastian.
[edit] External links
- Official Tom Ford homepage
- Fan-page of Tom Ford
- Tom Ford biography - Fashion Forum
