Tom Ford was born in Austin Texas on August 27, 1961. He is most known for designing luxury clothing for brands like Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent and his own personal brand “Tom Ford”. He is also a screenwriter, film director and producer. Not many people realize he directed films ‘A Single Man’ and ‘Nocturnal Animals’ in 2009 and 2016 respectively.
Ford studied architecture and design in New York. When he starting frequenting Studio 54 is when he realized he was gay. The club’s ‘glamor’ influenced him later in his career. Before he graduated, he spent over a year in Paris working as an intern for Chloe. His final year he studied fashion even though he graduated with a degree in architecture.
Despite Ford’s lack of experience in fashion, he contacted designer Cathy Hardwick every day hoping for a job at her local sportswear company. Hardwick finally agreed to an interview. She asked him who his favorite european designers were, and he replied ‘Armani and Chanel’. Months later he admitted he answered that way because she was wearing Armani. Ford worked for Hardwick for two years then in 1988 Ford took a job at Perry Ellis.
In 1990 Ford moved to Milan with his partner and began work at Gucci, (what was struggling at the time).
Ford excelled at Gucci to put it mildly. His role grew quickly and was designing mens wear within a few months, followed by shoes. By 1993, Ford was in charge of designing eleven product lines and was working eighteen hour days. The only hiccup was the conflicts Maurizio Gucci, the company’s chairman and 50% owner. Apparently Maurizio always wanted everything to be round and brown, and Tom wanted to make it square and black. Though Maurizio wanted to fire Ford, Domenico De Sole insisted that he remain.
In 2004 Ford left Gucci and four people were hired to take over his role. Ford went on to create his own line which he named “Tom Ford”.
Celebrities and royalty wear Fords designs such as Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anne Hathaway, Daniel Craig, Tom Hanks, Hugh Jackman, Jon Hamm, and so many more. Ford also designed Daniel Craig’s suits for his last three James Bond films: Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre.
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