Tom Ford manages to create a masculine image, sewn on himself, in which everyone would like to recognize themselves.
After all, there are still the times when he came out in the end of the Gucci catwalk dressed in a classic tuxedo and a glass of whiskey in his hand.
The James Bond of fashion that all men would like to be.
In today’s text we are going to talk about his career, his net worth and his personal life, so stick with us to find out more.
Early Life
In the field of fashion, it achieved international fame after overseeing the relaunch of the Gucci fashion house and for subsequently creating the Tom Ford brand.
Tom Ford is also the name of the father, Shirley Bunton is the mother instead. The young future stylist spends his childhood in the suburbs of Houston, then at the age of 11 he moves with his family to Santa Fe.
He completed his studies at St. Michael’s High School and later at the Santa Fe Preparatory School, graduating in 1979.
At the age of 17 he moved to New York, where in addition to studying at the Parsons School of Design, he studied art history at New York University. In these years he attended the legendary Studio 54 disco and met pop art guru Andy Warhol.
During his last year of studies at Parsons, Tom Ford worked in Paris for six months as an intern in the Chloé press office. After studying fashion for years, he graduated in 1986, but achieved the title of architect. Still in 1986 he joined the creative staff of designer Cathy Hardwick.
The turning point came in 1988, when he moved to Perry Ellis as Director of Design under the supervision of another fundamental figure in the world of fashion: Marc Jacobs.
In 1990 he changed radically embarking on the adventure of the Gucci brand, on the verge of bankruptcy. He initially held the position of head of ready-to-wear women’s clothing, then moving on to Director of Design in 1992.
In 1994 Gucci was bought by Investcorp, a Bahrain investment fund, and Tom Ford continued to climb positions by becoming Creative Director, with responsibility for the company’s production and image.
1995 is the year that relaunches Gucci and Ford in the fashion world, thanks to the stylistic guidelines and targeted advertising campaigns of the Texan designer.
In 2000 he also took on the role of Creative Director for Yves Saint Laurent, after she joined the Gucci group. In 2004 Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole decided to leave the Gucci group. His last show is from March 2004.
The Ford-De Sole duo creates the company “Tom Ford”. He collaborates with Estée Lauder regarding perfumes and cosmetics, and creates a collection of sunglasses with his name. Extravagant and nonconformist launches its perfume on the market called “Black Orchid”.
In spring 2007 he presented the men’s collection that bears his name. The menswear line remains available until 2008 in the Ermenegildo Zegna monobrand boutiques and subsequently in selected stores. For the advertising campaigns of its lines, it relies on the strong style of Marilyn Minter and Terry Richardson.
Always attentive to Hollywood style and glamor, he has always had contact with the world of cinema: in 2001 he appears as himself in the film “Zoolander” and in 2008 he takes care of the clothes of James Bond / Daniel Craig in “Quantum of Solace”.
Still in 2008 he decided to embark on a new artistic adventure, making his film directorial debut with “A Single Man”. After purchasing the rights to Christopher Isherwood’s novel “One man alone”, he began filming the film between October and November 2008.
The film was presented in competition at the 66th Venice International Film Festival, where he obtained an excellent welcome. The protagonist is the English Colin Firth, who won the Volpi Cup for the best male performance.
The story tells about an ordinary day of a homosexual professor and his loneliness after the death of his partner. Tom Ford also takes care of the script and the production.
Career Path
Tom Ford was born on August 27, 1961, is an American fashion designer and film director, who rose to fame by saving Gucci from the final break.
After many years within the company, he decided to create his personal signature, which became a worldwide success. In the biography of Tom Ford you can learn the story of a dreamer, insistent and persevering man, who did not succumb to those who did not believe in his talent. Enjoy this article with us!
Far from the glamor of the catwalks and the brightness of New York, Thomas Carlyle Ford, a Texan raised in New Mexico, was born. Growing up in that state, he realized that he wanted to live different experiences than he could have in that place, so he moved to New York City to study Art History.
Just a year after starting the career of Art History within the University of New York, Tom Ford decided to abandon his studies to start working as a model of advertising campaigns. During my childhood, I believed that happiness was in a martini glass and a New York apartment, I believed that having a movie life really was happiness.
Eager to discover his true passion, Ford began his architecture studies at the prestigious Parsons School of Design. Between classes, designs and works, the then young man began to frequent the ambient disco, Studio 54, in which he discovered that he was homosexual.
His love for fashion began while he was in the city of Paris, to which he was sent as an intern. There he was in charge of sending the clothes to the photographic sections made by the Chloé brand.
Upon graduation, Tom Ford began knocking on the doors of important designers such as Cathy Hardwick, whom he visited for a month, every day, to grant him a job interview. Tired of her insistence, Cathy gave her a chance to talk to her, being impressed with the work of the then aspiring dressmaker.
After two years working with Cathy Harwick, Tom decided to lend his talent to the signing of Perry Ellis. However, it wouldn’t last long there, because I was tired of making fashion for the American public.
Determined to meet new fashion styles, the designer traveled to Europe, where he was hired for the Gucci brand, in order to reinvent the lines for women and improve sales figures.
His work within Gucci was growing, so the American worked more than 18 hours a day, without having any kind of recognition from the owner of the company, Maurizio Gucci. Despite being the mastermind behind the collections of footwear, perfumes and advertising, the merit was always obtained by Mello, the predominant figure of the brand.
Despite his deputies with Maurizio Gucci, the designer was promoted to creative director, revaluing the company’s sales by 90%, a fact that made him a fundamental part of it.
In 2004, Tom Ford decided to definitely leave Gucci to embark on his own path within the fashion industry. The designer took his time to design his personal collection of men’s clothing, glasses and accessories, which proved to be a worldwide success.
Along with fashion, Tom explored another of his great passions: cinema, which is why he created his own film company, Fade to Black. Years later he made his debut as a filmmaker in directing the film, A Single Man (A Single Man??), who won an Academy Award nomination in the Best Actor category, in addition to receiving a Golden Globe nomination within from the same section.
A Single Man was also nominated in the best actress and best soundtrack categories at the 2009 Golden Globe. Ford also directed the feature film Night Animals, which featured the main performances of Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Tom Ford met the journalist, Richard Buckley, in the mid-1980s. His first meeting was at a fashion show in New York City. Richard was sitting in the VIP area, when suddenly he saw a handsome young man who was dressed in an elegant black suit entering; it was about Tom, who was 25 years old at the time.
At the end of the parade, Richard realized that Tom wanted to leave the venue, so he followed to take the elevator together. However, these were very crowded, which made them decide to go down the stairs. They both exchanged a couple of smiles, but they didn’t talk or show up, which hurt the journalist.
Like in a kind of movie, Richard kept thinking about Tom, and in the middle of a photo shoot, he started talking about him with a close friend. Minutes later, they rang the bell of the photo studio, and to his pleasant surprise, the designer was behind the door.
Finally, Richard invited Ford to a dinner with his personal friend, Cathy, who upon learning of the attraction between the two, provided all the details of the designer to the journalist. Soon, they both went to live together, but hard news would test their relationship: Tom Ford had cancer.
After many years of relationship, the couple decided to have a child through a rental belly. He arrived in the world in 2012 and was baptized with the name of Alexander John Buckley-Ford. After 27 years of dating, both decided to formalize their love before the law, in a ceremony held in 2014.
Personal life
American designer is also a director, screenwriter, film producer and, if necessary, a photographer and model (of himself).
A brand more than a man, who has decided to expand his horizons also conquering the cinema. Ford reached international fame in the 90s, relaunching Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, and then driving his empire, Tom Ford International.
It had not happened for some time, lately he was chatting about his films, for now only two, but very strong: A single man and nocturnal animals. But let’s go step by step, because a man of a thousand talents must be told well.
Tom Ford, aka Thomas Carlyle Ford, was born in Austin, Texas on August 27, 1961. The son of two estate agents, he spent his childhood between Houston and Santa Fe, then moved to New York at the age of 17.
In the Big Apple he attended Studio 54, where he met Pop art guru Andy Warhol. The excesses of social life distracted him from his studies, leading him, in 1980, to move to Los Angeles, where he tried to establish himself as an actor of television commercials. After two years Tom Ford returns to New York to study architecture at the Parsons School of Design.
An internship experience in Chloé’s press office in Paris convinces him to change his studies and choose fashion. In 1988 he took over the design direction of Perry Ellis under the supervision of another future fashion giant, Marc Jacobs.
Two years later Tom Ford moved to Milan and made his entrance as manager of ready-to-wear women’s clothing in the Gucci fashion house, then in severe financial difficulties.
In 1992 he took the position of director of design and in 1994, when Gucci was taken over by the Bahrain Investcorp fund, he became creative director. These roles will later be joined by that of chief designer of Yves Saint Laurent and YSL Beauté.
Together with the CEO Domenico De Sole, Tom Ford renews and relaunches the image of Gucci, ferrying it into the fashion Gotha with a sensual and luxurious style, including fur in pop colors, total white cut-out dresses, precious embroidery, python boots, and décolleté with clamp and reinterpretations of the Jackie O Bag.
To convey the new course of the brand are also the international campaigns designed by the Texan designer and shot by Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel, Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts.
In ten years, the turnover of the Florentine maison has gone from 230 million to 3 billion dollars. In 2004, when the French conglomerate Ppr (today Kering) took over Gucci, the Ford – De Sole duo left the company and founded the Tom Ford brand.
After his eyewear debut in partnership with the Marcolin Group, the designer signs an agreement with Estée Lauder for the first Tom Ford Black Orchid fragrance.
In April 2007, with the opening of the first flagship store in New York, the first men’s collection was launched, in the name of classic rigor, sought after in cuts and materials.
The first, highly anticipated, women’s line by Tom Ford was presented to selected buyers and fashion editors in 2010.
To inspire her feminine looks are beautiful women such as Lauren Hutton, Julianne Moore and Bianca Jagger, but the muse of excellence remains the New York in the 70s.
His men’s fashion, on the other hand, is like him: classic and hyper-luxurious, which does not need to overdo it to show off security.
Quick summary
Full name: Thomas Carlyle Ford
Date of birth: August 27, 1961
Birthplace: Austin, Texas, USA
Age: 58
Profession: Fashion designer
Height: 1.83 m
Weight: 90 kg
Net Worth: 500$ million