Background
Mr. Ford was born on August 27, 1962 in Austin, Texas, United States. He is the son of realtors Shirley Burton (née Shirley Ann Thrasher) and Thomas David Ford.
Bard College at Simon's Rock
New York University
Parsons School of Design
Gucci's company logo.
Yves Saint Laurent's company logo.
Tom Ford's company logo.
Tom Ford Spring 2014 RTW collection.
Tom Ford arrives at the Golden Globe awards, 9 January, 2017
("Tom Ford" caused a sensation when it was first published...)
"Tom Ford" caused a sensation when it was first published in 2004. This giant slice of fashion history, now back in print, celebrates the designers phenomenal career, during which he brought the house of Gucci back from the dead and then dethroned the great Yves Saint Laurent. With images by Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Steven Meisel and Terry Richardson, as well as texts by Anna Wintour and Graydon Carter, the book showcases Ford's magic touch on iconic catwalk pieces, provocative ad campaigns and elegant interiors. Anyone with an interest in fashion will want to own "Tom Ford".
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0500511977#reader_0500511977/?tag=2022091-20
2004
(Buy Nocturnal Animals: Read 535 Movies & TV Reviews - Ama...)
Buy Nocturnal Animals: Read 535 Movies & TV Reviews - Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MSW1ZQT/?tag=2022091-20
2016
director screenwriter fashion designer
Mr. Ford was born on August 27, 1962 in Austin, Texas, United States. He is the son of realtors Shirley Burton (née Shirley Ann Thrasher) and Thomas David Ford.
Tom Ford spent much of his childhood at his grandparents' ranch in the dusty town of Brownwood, Texas. His favorite childhood pastimes included lying out by his grandparents' pool and visiting Ralph the Swimming Pig - a popular tourist attraction in nearby Aquarena Springs. Ford also took an early interest in art and painting.
Mr. Ford's family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he entered St. Michael's High School and later moved to Santa Fe Preparatory School, from which he graduated in 1979. At age 16, he enrolled at Bard College at Simon's Rock, but quickly dropped out. And then he enrolled at New York University in 1979 as an art history major. While at New York University, Mr. Ford became a regular at the infamous Studio 54 nightclub, and his studies suffered. In 1980, after just one year at New York University, Tom Ford dropped out and moved to Los Angeles, where he made a living acting in television commercials.
A few years later, he moved back to New York and enrolled in the Parsons School of Design, studying architecture. Tom Ford then transferred to Parsons' Paris campus, and it was while completing his final year of architecture study there that he suddenly decided to switch to fashion.
In 1985, after graduating from Parsons, Mr. Ford sought to land a job with prominent sportswear designer Cathy Hardwick. Tom Ford called Hardwick's office every day for a month straight. Hoping to finally get rid of this annoying caller, Mrs. Hardwick herself finally answered the phone and asked him how soon he could take a meeting. Just under two minutes later, Tom Ford arrived in her office (he had been calling from the lobby).
Cathy Hardwick offered Mr. Ford a job, and after two years as Hardwick's design assistant, Tom Ford landed a job designing jeans for Perry Ellis on New York's Seventh Avenue. Then in 1990, he moved to Milan to assume the role of Womenswear Designer for Gucci. At the time, the exalted leather company was hampered by management infighting and a struggle to keep up with market trends. Tom Ford instantly breathed new life into Gucci. He ascended quickly through the company's ranks, rising to Design Director in 1992 and to Creative Director in 1994.
Tom Ford completely revamped Gucci's image - replacing the minimalism of the early 1990s with updated retro looks that oozed sex appeal. He expanded the company into a host of new ventures, including men's and women's sportswear, eveningwear and home furnishings. Under Mr. Ford's leadership, Gucci acquired the venerable French brand Yves Saint Laurent, fueling remarkable growth in the company's sales. Over the course of the decade, Tom Ford served as Gucci's driving force (1994-2004), and the company's annual sales increased from $230 million to $3 billion.
After French multinational Pinault Printemps Redoute bought Gucci in 2004, he resigned from the company. In 2005, he founded his own fashion company, Tom Ford Brand, which offers menswear, eyewear and beauty products. Mr. Ford created significant buzz for his new company when he posed on the cover of a 2006 issue of Vanity Fair wearing Tom Ford Brand menswear, sandwiched between Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson, both of whom posed nude.
In collaboration with Ermenegildo Zegna, the fashion designer launched a range of luxury menswear, including suits, accessories and shoes in 2006. As a result of its success, he opened his two-storey flagship store a year later, modelled after his London townhouse in New York's Madison Avenue. Partnerships with luxury department stores Daslu and Villa Moda kick-started the 2007 announcement that the Tom Ford brand would see an international expansion - with flagships in London, Milan, Los Angeles and Hawaii over the succeeding three years.
In 2009, Mr. Ford made a foray into the film industry with his debut film, A Single Man, starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. Ford co-wrote and directed the film, based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood.
In 2010 Tom Ford marked his return to womenswear design with an intimate presentation at his Madison Avenue flagship store with a coterie of attendees such as Beyoncé Knowles, Daphne Guinness and Lauren Hutton. The public and the rest of the fashion industry were kept on tenterhooks for two months to see the collection in an exclusive feature in American Vogue.The following collection was moved to London Fashion Week, but shown privately in a showroom. In 2013 Mr. Ford opened his collections to a wider selection of press, bloggers and photographers, joining the London Fashion Week official schedule and showing his menswear for the first time at London Collections: Men.
In 2016 Tom Ford wrote, co-produced, and directed Nocturnal Animals, a psychological thriller based on a 1993 novel by Austin Wright. The film stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal.
("Tom Ford" caused a sensation when it was first published...)
2004(Buy Nocturnal Animals: Read 535 Movies & TV Reviews - Ama...)
2016Tom Ford is a Democrat. He disagreed with America's invasion of Iraq in 2003, stating that he felt "ashamed to be an American." His comment drew public criticism within America. Mr. Ford hosted a fundraiser for Obama. He voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US general election.
Mr. Ford has advocated for federal recognition of same-sex marriage in the United States. In a 2009 interview, he said he preferred the term "civil partnership" for both opposite-sex and same-sex partnerships, and to leave "marriage" to religion to decide.
Mr. Ford says it is important for designers to be contemporary and current with the changing standard of beauty.
Quotations:
"My real life's not like the fantasy Tom Ford world - with naked girls pouring perfume everywhere. It's more staying in and watching Friends on television."
"I couldn't have cared less about Gucci when I first went there - but soon after I arrived, I cared a lot."
"Men don’t wear fashion any more except in Italy and London. Americans have lost that."
"A man should never wear shorts in the city. Flip-flops and shorts in the city are never appropriate. Shorts should only be worn on the tennis court or on the beach."
"The fashion world thrives on irony and bitchiness and meanness. This attack is making people sincere. I’m not sure that will be good for fashion."
"First of all, I love women. But I lust after beautiful women in the way that I lust after a beautiful piece of sculpture - this will probably get me in trouble - or a beautiful car. I believe everyone’s on a sliding scale of sexuality. There are moments where I am sexually attracted to women. But it doesn’t overpower my first impulse; my lust for them is the same as my lust for beauty in all things."
"I know one day I'll be irrelevant. No matter how hard you try there is a cultural moment, but eventually that window's gone, your time on Earth is finished, and you might as well leave. I could absolutely die tomorrow - I would not care. I feel like I've lived, I feel like I've had a great life."
Tom Ford describes himself as a "a perfectionist to the point of insanity." He is a vegan. He told Vogue he had adopted a vegan diet after viewing a Netflix documentary called What the Health.
Mr. Ford is married to Richard Buckley, a journalist and former editor in chief of Vogue Hommes International; they have been in a relationship since meeting in 1986. The couple have a son, Alexander John "Jack" Buckley Ford, born in September 2012. The family lived in Italy, where Ford moved from New York in 1990.