Tom Ford (Q5828)
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
luxury fashion house
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Tom Ford |
luxury fashion house |
Statements
2006
founder
intern
menswear team
assisting designer
2024
creative director
Haider Ackermann’s headline-making appointment as creative director of Tom Ford earlier this month may have rendered the Milan presentation of this interim studio-produced collection eminently missable, but watching it climb up the Vogue Runway rankings since the images were posted proves there’s power in the Ford name even without a well-known designer in the hot seat.Though it lacked the wicked touch that Ford used to bring to his shows, a quality that Peter Hawkings’s short-lived run was also missing, this collection otherwise held to the brand codes. There was the sexy slink of knits, often shot through with metallic yarns, and there was the kind of boss tailoring that made Ford's menswear such a hot commodity. Especially strong was a sharply cut jacket in pinstripe wool, and nighttime versions of the same silhouette in fabrics with a velvety sparkle. A to-the-floor T-shirt dress in tiny silver beads was the winner among the evening options; it’d be as easy to wear as it is statement-making.Also in the mix were buttery leather jacket-and-skirt sets, a silky jumpsuit that called to mind the ’70s of Halston, and a plethora of sporty short-shorts. Having tracked Ackermann’s particular brand of vagabond chic for over a decade, it’s hard to imagine those shorts in the Tom Ford brand’s future, but only time will tell. Next stop: Paris, where Ackermann will present his debut collection for the label on the runway in March.
19 September 2024
Micro-minis, slinky trouser suits, and flyaway caftans slit to the hip—what else could this be but the sexy-and-glamour legacy of Tom Ford? Peter Hawkings, Ford’s longtime menswear designer, now the brand’s creative director, is a Brit who knows every page of his former boss’s playbook, going back to the heady 1990s and aughts of the Gucci years.Now Hawkings has consolidated the women’s and men’s design teams in London—a homecoming of sorts, as at one time Ford used to base his Gucci studio in the city. Which is why the in-person viewing of the resort collection in these pictures took place on rails in the Tom Ford store on Sloane Street, guided by Hawkings’s design director Christopher Rawstron.Leafing through the alternating content of barely-there body-revealing pieces, slick lurex-shot tailoring, and cotton-drill jumpsuits, Rawstron said that Hawkings had taken a video documentary about Veruschka—the great German model and artist Vera von Lehndorff—as his starting point. “ Kind of late ’60s, early ’70s, kind of [Richard] Avedon.”Those heady days of youthquake fashion moved speedily from graphic minis to hotpants and hipster bootlegs and into louche hippie maximalism. The cruise collection contains a whiff of that recipe. Verushcka nerds may clock Hawkings’s coded references to a famous image of her wearing an Yves Saint Laurent 1976 safari jacket or to an A-line micro-dress with a cross-ribbon neckline. The result: a kind of sundowner cocktail of a contemporary collection infused with a dash of nostalgia for excess and escapism.
9 July 2024
Under the creative direction of Peter Hawkings, Tom Ford 2.0 has so far focused its runway resources on the womenswear audience via two starry shows that incorporated menswear, yet within which it seemed slightly subsidiary. Within the Ford universe, however, menswear generates a heftier commercial gravity (around 70% of their ready-to-wear sales last year), so it made sense to give the brand’s masculine expression this first stand-alone presentation.The photos conjured images of Mick Jagger and Alain Delon heading for a Gunter Sachs-hosted soiree in some Cannes fleshpot following a grueling afternoon chain-smoking at Club 55. There was a touch of glam rock derived from before glam rock was invented: the fringed gem and sequin skinny scarfs, the loose collar polo necks plus pastel, and the gold and gemstone tones in the fabrics that generated a sense of opulence. Nearly every look, however, was accented with or dominated by black: This was a collection for night crawlers with a penchant for bottle service.A drapey pearl-toned tailored jacket was shot through with pale golden pinstripes with a Lurex gleam. A powdery pink suit in silk mikado was the backdrop for an almost calligraphic outline of black-frame shades, black tie, gold-grommet black belt, and cracked black leather patent loafers with a glint of golden hardware. A fastidiously fitted leather ivory bomber was styled with cuffed sleeves pulled up mid-forearm to allow the silken folds of a matching tone shirt to push under and through. That gem-etched fringed tie substitute swayed with movement above.There was a jacket in gold-tone leopard jacquard and a cheetah pattern shirt in opaque black and gold fil coupe matched with pants in French gold Lurex: big looks for alpha cats. One of those loose polos came in a trippy bouquet of multicolor ditsy daisy print. A cavalry striped tuxedo in creamy pale, apricot-tinged silk, and gem-toned pants in an almost weathered texture of velvet—a bit like antique upholstery—provided further flashes of stimulation. For those equipped with the hips, the pout, and the budget, Tom Ford menswear is surely the ultimate source of apparel for lotus-eating lotharios of every generation.
25 June 2024
In the dark before the Tom Ford show began, the end titles music fromBasic Instinctplayed on repeat (at least that’s what Shazam told me). Sharon Stone herself was in the front row, joined by Uma Thurman, Eva Green, Sam Claflin, Dominic Sessa, and Callum Turner. The paparazzi couldn’t seem to get enough of them, which is fitting. Peter Hawkings, now in his second season at Tom Ford, makes heat seeking fashion; the eveningwear in particular is designed with an eye for the spotlight.So far, so Ford. Hawkings spent decades working for the brand founder, and understands his aesthetic better than anyone. His mission this season was to begin to break free of the past and find his own stamp to move forward.He started by sending out a series of military-inflected coats and jackets, plus a romper suit with brass buttons. He pointed out that these were specially designed for the label, adding that all of the collection’s fabrics were also developed exclusively. Those military pieces were well done, and will appeal far beyond the celebrity contingent in attendance tonight.As a designer, Ford was a man of excesses, and before he sold the brand he was fond of pushing his collections to the edge, inviting a raised eyebrow, and questions of high taste and low taste. Hawkings has scrubbed that sense of provocation away. His Tom Ford is still sexy, but somehow in a safer way, the naked crystal mesh flapper dress and see-through catsuits notwithstanding. The Vanilla Sex to Ford’s Rose Prick, say—a comparison Hawkings seemed to be courting with the new fragrance he sent with the invitations.Though Hawkings specialized in menswear under Ford, his women’s tailoring was the new collection’s strong suit, as it was in his debut. Last season it was a reprise of Ford’s Gucci era velvet smokings; this time around it was his three-piece suits with wide-lapeled jackets, shrunken waistcoats, and high-waisted pants designed to hug the bum, “grab you around the thigh,” and flow to the hem, which were shown in a silvery gray, pinstripes, and vivid purple. Fit, Hawkings said, “is so important to me.” It showed.
22 February 2024
How do you replace Tom Ford? Peter Hawkings, the newly appointed creative director at the label, which Ford and his partner Domenico de Sole sold to the Estée Lauder Companies in April of this year, is better positioned than just about anybody for the job. He worked alongside Ford for 25 years, since back in the Gucci days. Ford’s codes, “of glamour, sexiness, elegance, and beauty,” as Hawkings put it to my colleague Mark Holgate, are his own codes.This isn’t a new designer/new direction debut, the kind we’re likely to get at Gucci tomorrow, where Sabato De Sarno has replaced Alessandro Michele, another Ford-era Gucci veteran. Consistency is the idea, and consolidation too. As Hawkings revealed in that interview, prior to his departure Ford was handling womenswear from Los Angeles, and Hawkings was doing menswear from London, and oftentimes there was a disconnect between the two. “It’s so important, bringing that woman closer to the man,” he said tonight, “so that they’re one universe.”The women and men on the runway tonight did indeed feel closer together. They shared materials including glossy mock croc, a color palette, and a tendency to wear their shirts unbuttoned past the navel, though the short-shorts were girls-only. The collection was a bit like a greatest hits playlist, starting with the sculpted belt buckle from Ford’s iconic spring 1996 show for Gucci, only this slinky long dress was black, not white, and instead of a hip cut-out, it had an exposed back (a recurring motif).Hawkings’s other talking point backstage tonight was quality. (The Ermenegildo Zegna Group operates the license.) “It’s absolutely everything to me,” he said, “We’ve been working on changing manufacturers, making sure shoes are beautifully made and comfortable, and bringing the tailoring up to the same level as the men’s.” On the women’s side, the velvet pant suits modeled after another iconic Gucci collection by Ford were particularly convincing; it’s the category that Hawkings knows best.The one thing missing at this Tom Ford show was Tom Ford himself. He’d been scheduled to attend, but couldn’t make it out of London, apparently due to bad weather. Hawkings had heard from him earlier in the day. “Tom’s been an absolute amazing support to me here,” he said. “He told me, ‘your attention to detail is fantastic, and I’m sure it’s gonna be super glamorous.’” On both counts, Ford was right.Hawkings’s next step will be evolving his language and looking ahead.
In 2010, Ford had just madeA Single Manand was talking about the difference between his two mediums. Film is “for ever and ever,” but “part of fashion is newness,” he said. “It’s got to be a new combination of elements that’s shocking-stunning-beautiful all at the same time.” He was right about that too.
21 September 2023
When Tom Ford launched his women’s ready-to-wear collection in September 2010, I was not among the 100 people to get an invitation, and the FOMO was excruciating. I distinctly remember being at the show that preceded it and watching as a few of those lucky 100 made a scramble for the exit before the finale. No one wanted to miss Ford’s debut.What made the FOMO particularly bad: He announced beforehand that there would be no photography (or virtually none; Terry Richardson, pre-scandal, was the house lensman). This was before Instagram put an end to clapping—you need two hands to do it, and there’s always a camera phone in one now—but even then Ford’s no-photo ban was unprecedented.Fashion shows had been a significant line item in brands’ annual marketing plans since his Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent days, of course. His decision to forego visual assets was audacious and unforgettable, all the more so because Beyoncé, Julianne Moore, fresh off ofA Single Man, Lauren Hutton, and many other celebrity friends were all there—and not in the front row, but walking the runway. The glamour!The no-photo policy didn’t last, but over the 13 years since there have been other gambits. In 2016, Ford became one of the first American designers to experiment with a see-now, buy-now schedule, in an effort to close the gap between his runway show and store deliveries. It proved too radical a rethink for the slow-to-move industry, but Ford valiantly led the charge. He also pioneered the Oscar-time L.A. show back in 2015 that we saw Donatella Versace adopt this March, closing the gap between the runway and the red carpet, if nothing else.We won’t get another Tom Ford by Tom Ford show; he sold the company to Estée Lauder in a deal valued at $2.8 billion late last year. His successor, when that person is named, may carpet the runway in white rose petals and fragrance the air with Fucking Fabulous, but Ford opted out of a ceremonious, showy goodbye, choosing for his sign-off an Archive collection of his greatest hits instead.Clicking through them triggers many a red carpet memory. There is Gwyneth Paltrow’s sensational white column gown and attached cape from the 2012 Oscars, and there is Zendaya’s hot pink molded breastplate and fluid skirt circa first-seasonEuphoria, that cemented her fashion icon status more than everything else. The stretch sequin and mesh dress Rihanna wore on a 2016 issue ofVogueis also included.
For his spring 2022 return to the runway post-pandemic, Ford considered the impact of social media on fashion. “Photogenic clothes today by their very nature mean that they are not at all timid,” he riffed at the time. That was never not true chez Tom Ford. As the worlds of fashion and Hollywood grow ever more intertwined, it seems too bad that the American designer who navigated both worlds with such control and assurance is stepping away. Where will we get our glamour fix now? But if an era is ending, at least there’s the prospect of watching Ford’s cinematic vision unfold on the big screen sometime in the future.
27 April 2023
“In fashion I don’t look back. The moment I turn my back on the runway, I’m thinking about what I am going to do next season. I don’t look back.” So said Tom Ford in October 2021 during a chat about his book 002. That, though, was then. In this now, where Ford’s sale of his namesake brand to Estee Lauder for $2.8 billion means he is understood to be heading for other pursuits by the end of 2023, it is only right and proper that he revisits what he has achieved. This collection, you suspect, will be the first of a few that double down on Ford’s iconography while acting to amplify it while he remains steering the ship.Ford launched his menswear in April 2007, three years after leaving Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, and two years after starting his own brand via fragrance and eyewear partners. “I did the menswear out of personal need. I realized if I want these things and I can’t find them then other people do too.” What Ford wanted was the tailored creativity of Savile Row but stripped of its rigid delivery and then imbibed with a sexy hit of the new luxury codes he did so much to pioneer at Gucci.As communicated via a member of his team, this collection’s 23-inch wide cuffed pant with peaked lapel and powerful shoulder suiting silhouette (best seen in look 33) plus the Prince of Wales check acted as a specific reference to Ford’s earliest disruptive sally against the skinny, Dior Homme hegemony. Look 13’s epauletted, double-breasted wool-cashmere officer’s coat with a funnel neck fastening was a nod to an outerwear piece that was amongst Ford’s best selling for both men and women while at Gucci. A caramel cafe racer jacket was also vv TF x GG. Profoundly Fordian were the jewel-tone, block color silk/organza day and evening looks, contemporary echoes of the late ’60s explosion of color on Savile Row as it was inflected by the psychedelic swirl of Carnaby Street and soundtracked by The Beatles at number 3.The collection also featured points of evolution, especially in fabrication, and most especially of all in velvet, which came stamped in croc-relief and flocked on denim in neatly fitted and dangerously sleek casual jacket shapes. There was also stamped croc leather, fine gauge silk knits shot through with metallic foil, and little punkish mohair sweaters with faint graffiti reliefs.
An amethyst viscose three-piece comprising jacket, track-style zip-up, and those cutely tapered pants combined tailored suit and leisure suit into an effectively rich and not at all kitsch fresh form.As the first date in 2023’s believed farewell tour for Ford, this collection was full of highly-considered and deeply covetable trophy pieces—and prefaced the womenswear that is to come. He observed on that 2021 chat: “I say in the book that designing menswear is like Vicodin and designing womenswear is like cocaine, and it’s true. I enjoy designing both of them but they are entirely different.” Let’s savor Ford’s intoxicating fashion formulae of every flavor while he’s still on hand to cook them up.
30 January 2023
While Tom Ford could not be reached to discuss this collection of menswear (leaving a senior design team to relay background intel instead), the founder’s finely manicured fingerprints were clearly visible upon it. The Tom Ford Ocean Plastic timepieces and Tom Ford big shades were blatant accessories to the prime ready-to-wear event. You could almost detect a headily-spritzed whiff of Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille or Neroli Portofino while considering a collection that delicately advanced the house’s fundamental menswear identity while simultaneously reinforcing it.This broke down into three overlapping facets. The first was louche formal tailoring, with a hint of 1950s in the cut, reportedly inspired in part by Ford’s recent shooting of nu-Elvis Austin Butler. The broad-shouldered, 1.5 breasted Austin suit shape, new this season, was the clearest testament to that. It came delivered in multiple jewel-toned shades and creamy alternatives. The fabrics ran from viscose and wool to mohair, and Austin plus its co-stars were often styled with sneakers and double-zipped silk bombers worn in lieu of waistcoats. There was a trench in silk that should never encounter rain if you want to preserve its looks.Then came the louche semi-formal casual wear. This encompassed skinny-hipped silhouettes and featured Cafe Racer jackets in stamped animalia-pattern leather or quilting effects. There was a nappa leopard trucker worn over a leopard silk shirt which was in turn worn above a leopard silk tank. Leopard pants and ponyskin leopard boots prowled south to complete a look with more leopard than Lampedusa. The denim was carefully ripped and repaired in homage to Ford’s own lockdown-scarred staples. Velour animalia pajamas provided this chapter’s climax.The third facet angled towards louche elevated sportswear. A fine mesh that had previously been hinted at was brought to the fore in blousons and tanks worn over patterned viscose shorts—once a no-go for Ford but of late a happy category. Then came robes in expressively patterned velour. At the end Ford U-turned back to tailoring, presenting a handsome wad of $10,000–20,000 couture-ish level jackets in beading or ultra-rich moire fabrics. The final encore came courtesy of the quintessential mid-century U.S. evening jacket: the Ratpack uniform remixed afresh by Ford.
20 October 2022
Tom Ford was in the headlines in July when it was reported that he was exploring the potential sale of his brand. The designer has said little in the months since, but industry talk has had it that the deal could be worth $3 billion. So it’s no wonder he put on the razzle dazzle tonight, packing the room with celebs—Madonna, Chris Rock, and Ciara, among them—and sending out a collection with Hollywood Boulevard and Elvis-in-Las-Vegas vibes, heavy on the pastel lamé, Nudie Suit-style embroideries, and black lingerie lace.This was a New York Fashion Week in which the bared body was the locus of attention. Ford wrote that book nearly 30 years ago. Tonight’s collection looked back on his different chapters, the sheer tees and black satin bra tops evoking a Gucci spring 2001 show, the deconstructed chiffon dresses reminiscent of a YSL outing for spring 2002. Friends and collaborators who have been with him since those days, like Carine Roitfeld, Elizabeth Saltzman, and Lisa Eisner, were in attendance, but he had things for the Instagram generation, too. A year ago he was talking about the ways in which social media has changed fashion, killing off subtlety in favor of high impact. The sequin patches decorating cargo shorts and the fringed cowboy shirts here certainly qualified.The menswear was slightly more tempered, if not as traditional as the Tom Ford tux Jason Sudeikis scored in at the Emmys on Monday. A hot pink zoot suit was accompanied by a necktie that looked wider and shorter than recent examples.For all the glossy surfaces and metallic shine, however, there was an undeniable melancholic undercurrent. When the daywear section concluded, a soundtrack of upbeat ’80s hits was swapped out for Freddie Mercury singing “Time Waits for No One.” Ford lost his husband Richard Buckley nearly a year ago. On Saturday, the photographer William Klein died, and today fashion mourned Roxanne Lowit, who was among the first photographers to romance the behind-the-scenes action at runway shows. One of Lowit’s early subjects was Pat Cleveland, a frequent model for Yves Saint Laurent, and she was in the audience this evening, too.The pandemic has accelerated a generational shift the reverberations of which will only become more pronounced. Nothing stays the same, but Ford has his sexy extrovert signatures, and he’s sticking with them—all the way down to the cheeky lace underthings.
15 September 2022
New York Fashion Week was a little—okay, a lot—less glamorous without Tom Ford in the mix. Having canceled his show due to production issues related to Covid, he’s dropping a lookbook in the middle of the Paris schedule instead. Ford was a regular here during his Yves Saint Laurent days 20 years ago. The difference between then and now is that Ford’s been Californiafied—a casual element has infiltrated his collections since he moved to Los Angeles in the shape of tracksuits and other forms of athletic wear. That aside, he’s speaking the same language as his peers here and in Milan who’ve rallied around the suit for fall.Tailoring is one of the threads holding this season together, only these aren’t suits for the 9-to-5 grind. Designers have been thinking about after-hours suits, the kind women used to wear when we still went out to clubs. With Covid on the decline, the mood on the Paris runways has been just this side of decadent.Ford was clearly feeling for something similar with his sumptuous velvets, satins, and faux furs, and the rich jewel tones he styled head-to-toe: Sapphire velvet blazer-hoodie hybrid (at least that’s what it looks like in the pictures, no text explanation was forthcoming) and sapphire velvet trousers; turquoise stockings paired with turquoise evening sandals. Or the amethyst feather chubby that was accessorized with an amethyst hood, hose, and wedge heel shoes. The vibe for men was much the same: color and texture were the main stories, all the way down to the models’ iPhone cases, a quick zoom-in on which suggests that they’re velvet.This was one of Ford’s more covered-up collections of late, until the end. The lookbook finishes off with a pair of Guy Bourdin-ish images of long dresses whose sexy interplay of sheer and opaque shows the young guns playing with body-con exactly how it’s done.
3 March 2022