Iconic portrait : Tom Ford's designer career
In 1990, Tom Ford was recruited by Dawn Mellow, creative director of the international fashion house Gucci, to be the designer of women's ready-to-wear.
Tom Ford's eye for fashion and artistic talent were put to good use during this time, and he was soon promoted to CEO of Gucci. During his tenure, Gucci sales grew from $230 million to nearly $4 billion, making it one of the largest and most profitable luxury brands in the world. Under Tom Ford's direction, Gucci acquired the famous fashion house Yves Saint-Laurent/YSL, with himself as creative director of both brands.
Tom Ford left Gucci in 2004 and announced the creation of the Tom Ford brand in April 2005. Domenico DeSole, who was at the helm of Gucci during his tenure, started the business with him. In 2007, TomFord's first boutique opened in New York with the debut of his menswear and accessories collections.
At the same time he focused on directing films. Since December 2008, he has directed Single Man and Nocturnal Animals.
The king of swagger had a career selling the most luxurious fashion fantasies. He had already shown his creative identity before creating his own brand. Indeed, while he was working for Gucci and after also for YSL, he demonstrated a style elegant, sensual with a provocative cut and continued in this way. Beside the style he proposes sexy and provocative campaigns that reflect very well his mind (Solomatina 2016). Nowadays, Tom Ford chooses for his brand an unconventional direction and protests the current industry which he wants to change the rules, but still creating chic and sensual clothes (Amed, 2013).
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| Tom Ford's AW14 Womenswear campaign (2014) |
Multitalented, intriguing and perfectionist, charming and attractive, Tom Ford exudes an opulent sensuality. He is a designer known for sex and excess who designed sexy clothes, made provocative statements, and created sexy fashion ads. In addition, he is also a filmmaker, the two films he wrote and directed (A Single Man and Nocturnal Animals) are both worth-watching movies and have received several movie awards. First and foremost, he is a gentleman. He is elegantly dressed and has been included in many best-dressed lists as well as featured on magazine cover. Tom enjoys displaying his wit and knowledge, which makes him attractive to others. He possesses a fine mind, and is an analytical thinker, capable of great concentration and theoretical insight, that might be a reason for why he was among the shrewdest businessmen in the history of fashion and currently CFDA’s chairman. Ford said it is important for designers to be contemporary and current with the changing standard of beauty; and he saw himself as a commercial designer.
“I’m a commercial designer. My great skill is that I have elevated mass taste: Put five shoes in front of me, and I’ll tell you which is the best seller.” – Tom Ford
Tom Ford, in the pantheon of design and fashion, has gained notoriety over the years in the fashion industry. Like the greatest artists, such as Picasso or Van Gogh, he has not only asserted his porno-chic style, but has popularized it. He made it a trend in fashion, like the impressionist and cubist trends in art. For the American stylist, porno-chic will be his quest, Carine Roitfeld and Mario Testino his weapons. In addition, Tom Ford, the artist, actor and director, has demonstrated the multiple facets of his artistic talent in the world of cinema. In a sense, we can say that the designer has been strongly artified, although, as in all fields, but particularly in the art of fashion, he has suffered the sharp attacks of many critics. However, like an impassive sculptor, he carves in marble his artistic legacy.
He had already shown his creative identity before creating his own brand
Tom Ford has faced multiple challenges in his life, such as understanding his sexuality and coming to terms with it, multiple creative tensions when working with Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent and being accused of objectifying women or producing some racy creations.
By now, Ford has had such a fruitful career, resulting in worldwide fame, that chances are he won’t face many more issues that could endanger his future success. However, there are still some elements worthy of note regarding potential issues he currently has to or will have to face.
First of all, the controversies around his potential objectification of women. Ford has stated that he is an “equal opportunity objectifier” and that he also appreciates objectifying men. While such a matter could be detrimental to his reputation, it is highly improbable this will result in him losing work opportunities that cannot be compensated by some other opportunity.
Then, as a creative director, he will always need to be capable of renewing his creative touch in order for his conceptions not to become stalely similar.
Finally, a major challenge Ford has been facing lately is the tragic and recent death of his husband, Richard Buckley, with whom he was in a relationship for over thirty years. The loss of a loved one is a heavy blow to one’s morale, and this occurrence, which happened only two months ago, is sure to have a major impact on the artistic director’s daily life and creative aspirations.
An icon of inventiveness, Ford will always have a special place in the world of luxury. In these sorrowful times, one thing remains clear: his creative genius will perdure through the years, but perhaps not unchanged.
The Luxaholic team
REFERENCES
Ira Solomatina, (August 2016), Why Tom Ford's Tenure at Gucci Was so Memorable, Sleek, Available at: sleek-mag.com/article/why-tom-fords-tenure-at-gucci-was-so-memorable/
Imran Amed, (September 2013), The Business of Being Tom Ford, Business of fashion, Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/the-business-of-being-tom-ford-part-i
Haskell, R. (2019, August 15). A Man For All Seasons: Inside the World of Tom Ford. Vogue. https://www.vogue.com/article/man-for-all-seasons-tom-ford
Dowd, M. (2021, February 20). Tom Ford, Fragrant Vegan Vampire. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/20/style/tom-ford-maureen-dowd.html
"Vogue Voices: Tom Ford" (2014, January 2014). Vogue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpTvfYC71d8
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