Ford focus
The ex-Gucci man on his new collection – and movie
WORDS | TONY MAGNUSSON
Photography: © Eyevine
WHEN TOM FORD LEFT THE GUCCI GROUP IN 2004 AFTER CLASHING WITH ITS NEW OWNERS, PPR, he took with him something of inestimable value – his name. Along with the group’s president and CEO, Domenico De Sole, who had departed at the same time, Ford set about creating a new brand fuelled by all that his name had come to evoke: sex, power, glamour, luxury.
Not everyone understood where he was heading with all this, he acknowledges when we meet to discuss his latest direction at a five-star London hotel. Some were laughing behind his back at his apparent reversal of fortune: the creative director of both Gucci and YSL one year, flogging eyewear the next. “But I knew where I was going and it didn’t bother me.”
Rather than throwing himself straight back into the madness of the six-month fashion cycle – what he calls “the stress of seasonality” – Ford tried a more unconventional approach: unconventional for a fashion designer let alone a branding entrepreneur.
First, he teamed up with cosmetics giant Estée Lauder to reinterpret two of the company’s heritage fragrances, Youth Dew and Azurée, for a new generation and threw in lines of matching cosmetics for good measure. Around the same time he forged a licensing deal with Marcolin to produce optical frames and sunglasses, which quickly became the facial architecture of choice for cashed-up fashionistas the world over.
Next he began creating his own fragrances, manufactured and distributed by Lauder, starting with Tom Ford Black Orchid in 2006 and Tom Ford For Men in 2007. To date he has released 25 fragrances, 20 of which form the esoteric Private Blend collection and have appropriately eye-watering price points.
In a canny move to woo the Middle East, this spring will see the launch of his Arabian Wood scent exclusively in this market. Originally a private commission for an eminent sheikh, the opulence exuded from tonka bean, sandalwood and amber should make it popular across the Arab world.
Then came Tom Ford Menswear, a super-premium line of clothing, footwear and accessories built around a licensing agreement with the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, which debuted in his flagship Madison Avenue store in the spring of 2007. A five-storey Milan boutique opened the following year, and the brand currently has 64 distribution points globally, including Harrods in London and Flannels menswear store in Manchester.
Only now, more than four years after his comeback, is the designer looking to expand into the world of womenswear, the cutthroat market in which he originally rose to prominence. Ford recently announced that his company is seeking financial backing to the tune of $50 million, and he hopes to launch the line later this autumn.
It may be a back-to-front business model, and a very high-end one at that, but it’s working. Ford was well aware that he had a finite period of time in which to regroup before his fame would evaporate. Exploiting the anticipation of fans the world over, he chose to build capital and prestige in the beauty and accessories markets before returning to the atelier. The gamble paid off. In its first year, his Madison Avenue boutique beat its sales budget by 100 per cent.
Rather than democratising luxury, which cashes in on a brand’s desirability at the expense of its exclusivity, Ford’s new territory is one of “the highest quality, incremental changes each season and the best service”.
Ford’s £3,000 suits transcend the conceptual nature of most designer menswear, imbued as they are with a sleek, almost timeless elegance redolent of a European gentleman.
“I like to create things that have intrinsic value and which mean something,” says the man who probably has more cashmere in his current winter collection than any other menswear designer. “Our clothes are expensive but they’re as beautifully made as clothes can be made in today’s world. They don’t feel like an empty trend.” The Council of Fashion Designers of America didn’t feel that way either: they named him Menswear Designer of the Year in 2008.
IN THE FLESH HE IS EXACTLY AS YOU’D EXPECT; he has his visual signature down pat. Double breasted suit – check. White shirt open at the neck – check. Designer stubble – check. His droll baritone voice is equal parts anodyne and quietly salacious.
Add his handsome looks to the equation and you can see why the 48-year-old was so successful acting in TV commercials when he was younger. Thankfully for him, what could have appeared cheesy 25 years ago has matured into something far more sophisticated.
Yet, for all his James Bond-goes-to-Studio-54 sleekness, there’s an element of prurience to Ford’s aesthetic. He is known for his raunchy marketing stunts, once hiring adult entertainers to model his sunglasses, and works closely with edgy photographers such as Terry Richardson.
We all know that sex sells, but is he obsessed? And is that what his branding is centred around? “Actually, I think about sex less than people would think,” he counters. “I think about sensuality the older I get. It’s more about being closer to other people.”
That may sound a little disingenuous, unless you’ve seen his Oscar-tipped directorial debut, A Single Man, starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. Co-adapted by Ford from a Christopher
Isherwood novel, it’s a moving, visually sumptuous meditation on loss and identity. “The film is very romantic – it’s more about love than sex,” he says. “I think people will be surprised. It’s a different side of myself that not everyone knows is there.”
There’s already significant buzz around Ford’s film, which Variety is calling “luminous and treasurable”. Set throughout the course of a single day in LA in 1962, the feature sees middle-aged English professor George (Colin Firth, the cover star of Voyager’s last November edition) contemplating suicide following the loss of his male partner of 16 years. Julianne Moore plays Charley, an old friend of George’s who has long held a candle for him. Blowsy, beehived and fond of booze, Charley tries her best to convince her old pal as to the benefits of a “normal” married life – pink Sobranie cigarettes and black kohl eyeliner at the ready.
Making the movie has been a labour of love and, by his estimation, is not so great a leap from his other creations. “Directing felt very comfortable for me. In both industries you need a vision, and then you hire the best people to help you realise that vision.” Both arenas are about performance and framing, he suggests, peering at me through the ‘lens’ he’s made from his thumb and index finger. “And of course the movie business is all smoke and mirrors, like fashion. You’re selling a bit of surface, in a way, which doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of stuff behind it.”
Quite the contrary. And in the case of Ford’s carefully managed new empire, that surface is one of flawless sophistication underpinned by an awareness that true luxury can never be watered down for the masses without losing some of its allure. As the designer says: “It stops being luxury when it’s available in every single airport.”
OK, so Tom Ford isn’t for everyone. But that’s precisely the point.
Buy discounted Tom Ford fragrance onboard – see page 97. A Single Man is in UK cinemas on 12 February. www.asingleman-movie.com
