With his endless supply of creativity, American fashion designer Tom Ford (born 1961) transformed the Gucci label from a nearly bankrupt maker of leather goods into a flourishing fashion powerhouse. Ford took over as Gucci's creative director in 1994 and for the next decade, churned out high - voltage collections of sexy, yet sophisticated, clothes that were snatched up by women around the globe. "He makes women feel confident and sexy," actress Mischa Barton told "People" magazine's Jennifer Wulff in summing up the Ford phenomenon.
Inspired by Grandmother's Over - the - Top Persona
Ford was born August 27, 1961, in Austin, Texas. Growing up, Ford spent a lot of time at his grandparents' dusty ranch in Brownwood, Texas. From the beginning, his parents, both real estate agents, gave him free reign to explore his interests. "If I wanted art lessons, they found paint and a teacher," Ford told Texas Monthly's Anne Dingus. "I was always very visual, always interested in design. I don't mean that I sat around at age five sketching clothes. But if my parents went out to dinner and left me alone, I would rearrange all the living room furniture before they came back home." He recruited his little sister to help him.
During Ford's teenage years, the family relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where his grandmother lived. The move was good for Ford, who felt more at ease in fun - loving Santa Fe than in the Texas ranchlands. "Growing up in Texas was really oppressive for me," Ford told Sara Gay Forden, author of The House of Gucci. "If you're not white and Protestant and do certain things, it can be pretty rough, especially if you're a boy and don't want to play football and chew tobacco and get drunk all the time."
During his years in Santa Fe, Ford found an ally in his paternal grandmother named Ruth. The two were virtually inseparable. Grandma Ruth was a lively, larger - than - life lady. She wore big hats, big hair, fake eyelashes and huge papier - mâché earrings. "She was the kind of person who used to say, 'Ooooh, you like that honey? Well, go ahead and get ten of them,' " Ford told House of Gucci author Forden. "She was all about excess and openness and her life was much more glamorous than my parents' life - she just wanted to have fun!"
One of the most valuable lessons Ford learned during childhood was the importance of expressing yourself. It was a mandate his grandmother lived out daily. Speaking to Texas Monthly's Dingus, Ford was the first to admit that his grandmother's sense of style left an indelible mark on him. "The images of beauty you get in your childhood stick with you for life, and so there's a certain flashiness at Gucci," Ford said after he had made it big.
Ford attended an elite Santa Fe prep school and developed a taste for Gucci loafers, blue blazers and white button - down shirts. As a teen, Ford was intrigued by fashion designer Calvin Klein. Ford bought Calvin Klein sheets for his bed and pored over magazines that featured the stylish young designer, one of the first in the fashion industry to achieve movie - star status.
Starred in Commercials
After high school, Ford made a beeline for New York City and enrolled at New York University (NYU). One night, he went to a party and pop artist Andy Warhol showed up. Ford followed Warhol and the other partygoers to New York's famed Studio 54 nightclub. Ford began frequenting the nightclub and skipping classes to catch up on his sleep. He dropped out of NYU in 1980, after just one year.
Next, Ford moved to Los Angeles, California, where his boyish good looks and piercing dark eyes landed him plenty of work in commercials. At one time, Ford had 12 commercials on the air simultaneously. Ford was content in this line of work until one day, during the middle of filming a commercial, he found his mind wandering. Ford began to scrutinize everything about the shoot, thinking he could direct it better. He looked over the set - was there a better way to arrange it? At that moment, Ford realized he did not want to spend his life taking directions from others; he wanted to be the one in charge.
After this epiphany, Ford went back to New York City to study architecture at Parsons School of Design. Partway through his studies, Ford transferred to the school's Paris campus and landed an internship at the French fashion house Chloè. Ford found the fashion world energizing and decided architecture was not for him. It was too late, however, to switch majors without starting over, so Ford reluctantly completed his architecture degree, graduating in 1986. Undaunted by his lack of a proper degree, Ford sketched himself a fashion portfolio and sought work. During his job search, Ford was low - key about which department he had graduated from.
Entered Fashion World
Ford had a tough time breaking into the fashion field. No one would hire him. Speaking to House of Gucci author Forden, Ford summed up his determination this way: "When I want something I'm going to get it. I had decided I was going to be a fashion designer and one of those people was going to hire me!"
Ford pestered designers daily until finally, New York - based contemporary sportswear designer Cathy Hardwick agreed to meet with him. Ford's portfolio more than impressed her. According to the Dallas Morning News' Tammy Theis, Hardwick was stunned. "What I saw was heaven. He had such a fantastic presence, a beautiful face and elegant hands. I hired him 10 minutes later!"
Ford helped Hardwick design her women's ready - to - wear collection. During a photo shoot one day, Ford crossed paths with fashion editor Richard Buckley. By November 1986, the two men were dating and on New Year's Eve, they moved in together. While Ford has never hidden his sexuality, he has never dwelled on it either and prefers not to be labeled. When asked about his sexuality, Ford told the Advocate's Brendan Lemon, "I'm certainly gay at this particular moment in my life." At the time Ford made the remark, he had been living with Buckley for more than a decade.
In 1988, Ford joined Perry Ellis. A year later, Buckley was diagnosed with cancer and given a 35 percent chance of survival. After a series of treatments and surgeries, Buckley pulled through and the two decided to move to Europe for a change of pace. Buckley used his fashion connections to get Ford interviews with designers Donatella Versace and Carla Fendi. Ford also met with a representative from Giorgio Armani, but no one would hire him. Finally, Gucci creative director Dawn Mello agreed to give Ford a trial project. Mello quickly spotted Ford's potential and offered him a permanent job with Gucci in Milan. Buckley found work as the European editor of Mirabella.
Revived the Gucci Name
Ford joined Gucci in 1990, about the same time the company was trying to break into the mainstream apparel market. At the time, Gucci was best - known for its horse - bit loafers and leather handbags with the double - G Gucci logo, both of which had lost their popularity. When Ford came on board, the company itself was a wreck and nearly bankrupt due to family power struggles and scandals. Soon, he was design director. He replaced Gucci's stiff loafers with supple suede moccasins. The out - of - date wallets were replaced with bamboo - handled satin bags. Ford retooled Gucci's products, making them sleeker and sexier. The transformation had begun.
By 1994, Ford was creative director. His 1995 collection was a smashing success. Ford hit his stride with a 1970s - inspired collection of low - cut velvet hip - huggers, feather - and - bead adorned denim jeans and form - revealing satin shirts in siren red and hot pink. According to Forden's book, one Harper's Bazaar writer critiqued the runway collection by saying, "The effortless sexuality of it all had a chill factor that just froze the audience to their seats."
Soon, Hollywood's biggest stars were sporting the Gucci look. At the 1995 MTV Music Video Awards, Madonna walked onstage wearing a Ford silk blouse and low - rider pants. Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet and Julianne Moore followed suit. Ford's fashions had rejuvenated the Gucci name. In the first six months of 1995, sales jumped 87.1 percent compared to sales during the first half of 1994. Sales topped $500 million by year's end and Ford imitations showed up at malls all across the United States.
For the next decade, Ford set just about every new fashion trend and succeeded in resuscitating the Gucci name. He brought back low - slung waists in 1996 and patent leather in 1997. Ford also acquainted the world with killer heels, slinky jersey dresses and form - fitting shirts. At one point, Ford was single - handedly designing 11 of the company's product lines, including men's and women's sportswear, evening clothes, home furnishings, footwear, bags and accessories, luggage and gifts. Ford slept only a few hours each night, keeping a notepad at his bedside so he could jot down ideas if he was inspired during his sleep. The demands were grueling, but Ford loved the control. Besides working on the design end, Ford also took an interest in the company's ad campaigns and store displays. He even insisted on approving the color of the cellophane wrapped around the fragrance boxes.
Ford also picked his own models because he was interested in the image Gucci portrayed. Jon Tutolo, of Trump Model Management, told the Dallas Morning News' writer Theis that Ford used more ethnic models than anyone else - and they all loved to work with him. "He really has a worldly vision of beauty and what's exotic and what's sexy. It's funny, the girls, even though they know he's gay, they love to flirt with him. They think he's very sexy."
Though Ford's fashions were a high - flying success, the beauty of his genius is that he never really invented anything new. Ford simply had a knack for taking an idea of the past and re - creating it with a modern twist in such a way that it stirred up a connection with consumers. Mostly, Ford relied on films for inspiration. If a film captured his attention, he would watch it over and over again, trying to figure out the mood so he could capture it in a design. According to Forden's book, Ford would watch the film, asking himself questions like, Who is the girl wearing this outfit? What does she do? Where is she going?
Ford also traveled extensively, hoping to spot the next new trend. He sent his staff to flea markets around the world. Speaking to Theis, of the Dallas Morning News, Ford summed up his approach this way: "All you can do is saturate yourself in modern culture so that you get bored before everybody else. And hope that you can sense what they'll want to buy next, before they know they're bored with what they have now."
In 1999, Gucci purchased Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche (YSL) and in 2000, Ford became creative director at YSL, too. In 2001, Ford made a splash with a new YSL purple peasant blouse. After this blouse came out, Ford realized how desperate people were for his designs. Speaking to New York Times Magazine writer Lynn Hirschberg, Ford described his astonishment this way: "On Sept. 11, 2001, I was in New York and the YSL store was supposed to open. On the day the planes went into the twin towers, we received 42 calls from customers looking for the purple peasant blouse. The World Trade Center is going down, and women are calling a store for a blouse. The power of fashion can be a scary thing."
Left Fashion World Behind
In the fall of 2003, after a series of failed contract negotiations with Gucci's parent company, it was announced that Ford would leave the company the next spring. On December 4, sales at Gucci's U.S. stores hit an all - time high of nearly $4 million in one day as consumers rushed to snatch up Ford's last Gucci fashions.
Ford left Gucci at the end of April 2004 and said he was interested in directing films. He read many scripts but did not like any of them, so he decided to write his own. Ford told People that the script he is writing is more about romance than fashion or sex, which is what most people expect of him. "I've been with the same person for 18 years," he said, referring to Buckley. "To me, human relationships and hoping to connect with someone you love is the thing in life that keeps everybody going."
Books
Forden, Sara Gay, The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, William Morrow, 2000.
Periodicals
Advocate, June 10, 1997.
Dallas Morning News, March 5, 2004.
New York Times, October 17, 2004.
New York Times Magazine, March 14, 2004.
People, October 25, 2004.
Texas Monthly, September 1998.
Time, July 9, 2001.
Online
"Tom Ford (Creative Director)," Gucci Group website, http://www.guccigroup.com/grpProfile/executiveBio.asp?ExecId=3 (December 9, 2004).
