Tom Ford is everything to me. His collections and ad campaigns have been burned in my mind since my preteen years. The iconic Gucci heel from the Spring 2004 collection had me mesmerized - it is THE epitome of a perfectly curved heel. A little background info, Ford arrived at Gucci in 1994 hired by then creative director Dawn Mello (this lady was bossss - former president and fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman, she credits herself with discovering Michael Kors). I heard that Ford's now husband Richard Buckley put in the good word for him with Ms. Mello but that's neither here nor there.
At the time the company was not the Gucci it is today. It was nearly bankrupt and had a somewhat tarnished image in the luxury market. Ms. Mello made a bold move by bringing in a then virtually unknown Ford, but it was a genius move. He very quickly made the brand a massive force to be reckoned with. With Ford's direction the company went from nearly bankrupt to being valued at $10 billion at the time of his departure. He basically created the Gucci language that we see today and I'm thankful for it.
Ford wasn't very visible with the brand when he initially began because of tension with then company chairman Maurizio Gucci, but soon enough he became the face of the brand. His aesthetic combined with the work of stylist and former Vogue Paris editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld formulated a new Gucci woman: powerful, sexy, shameless, a dominatrix of sorts. Looking back I'm amused at how much his early collections remind me of Ms. Roitfeld.
Tom Ford is fabulous. After elevating the Gucci brand the company went on to acquire multiple other fashion houses including Yves Saint Laurent. Ford arrived at the latter in 1999 and designed the company's ready-to-wear collections which also were of course hits. However, Ford ended up abruptly departing both companies in 2004. There were disagreements over creative direction between Ford and the company's new parent company PPR(now called Kering) and I believe he was tired of the disagreements. After putting so much of your life and energy into churning out iconic collections for brands that were previously in shambles, and not getting the creative trust from CEOs to do what you do best, I'd be ready to leave as well. Very sad. But, I think times were changing as well and maybe it was kismet that he left when he did. He definitely shifted fashion in the late 90s and early 2000s and its helped push us to where we are today. That yellow chinoiserie body-hugging fish tail dress will be my future wedding gown God willing.
Love you Tom Ford.
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