Tom Ford : Life after Gucci

[Diorling]

Originally Posted by msminicooper

I am no fan of Tom Ford's work at Gucci (or Gucci for that matter) but what he did was very clever and the book is beautiful and amazing. It brought back memories of the mid 90s - when I had no style!
I went to the book signing session to get mine, Tom is very charming but cocky at the same time!

I would have be fanning myself, he is such a stud.

[taz]

Tom Ford: Sexier Than He Was Last Week
Don't buy him techno-gadgets. Do feed him steak.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005


Tom Ford photographed by Terry Richardson
(NEW YORK) What does Tom Ford want for Christmas? Nothing electrically operated—save for a new cordless contraption he just got. “I am really tired of techno-gadgets,” he says in the December issue of In Style, on newsstands tomorrow. “A box of engraved note cards and a beautiful pen is a much more interesting gift. I do love my new cordless TV though. I carry it to the tub so that I don’t miss anything.” Ford is featured outside of his usual dark vignettes in the six-page spread, which was photographed by his friend, Terry Richardson. The photos show Ford—who’s working on the launch of his eyewear, watches, and menswear lines—engaged in some everyday, albeit glamorous, activities. There he is, eating a steak or relaxing in bed or—this one’s a bit out of the ordinary—snacking on a Snickers bar in his tuxedo, lying against a piano.
As for his New Year’s resolution? It’s what Ford believes every guy should resolve to learn in 2006: “By age 20, kiss; by age 30, dress; by age 40, pay for things; by age 50, relax and enjoy life.” Seeing as how he’s now 44, that would mean he’s getting maximum use out of his AMEX black Centurion card.
JIM SHI

[rive gauche]

Thanks for the article, Taz

Did anyone see already the layout,packaging,etc... of the Tom Ford Eyewear products ?

Thankx in advance !

[rive gauche]

From www.harveynichols.com :

[taz]

the one in the bottom looks cool, wish to see the package too, thanks for the pics rive gauche

[MariaAllegra]

News from the Movie:
http://www.wwd.com/issue/article/102793

[rive gauche]

TOM FORD IS BACK cover from the december issue of L'OFFICIEL

[taz]

Guess who was there in Colette last night?
, have you been there rive gauche?

Tom Ford Dishes to FWD at His Paris Fragrance Launch

Godfrey Deeny Fri Dec 2, 1:23 PM ET


Fashion Wire Daily - Paris - Tom Ford staged his latest launch in Paris on Thursday night, and got heavy Hollywood back up for the event.

Liz Hurley, Roman Polanski and Emmanuelle Seigneur showed up for the Continental launch of his updating of Estee Lauder's Youth Dew Amber Nude. This marked stage number two in the rebirth of Ford as a designer brand in his own right and not, as before at Gucci, the best-paid hired gun in fashion. Stage one was Tom's presentation of his eyewear line last month in Paris.
It also underlined that Ford's return to luxury completely inverts the traditional career trajectory and growth plan of building a designer label. That usually means creating a fashion collection, staging a show, scoring a ready-to-wear license, opening a boutique and, if all that works and generations heat and attention, finally making money by putting your name on all sorts of licenses – like accessories, scents and eyewear.
Ford, in short, has launched his own brand by doing it exactly the other way around. And, judging from a free wheeling conversation with Ford in Paris on Thursday, that's something he gets quite a kick out of.
"I must be one of the only designers who has had the ability to do it. I am well known, and people know my taste and style. This gave me the ability to launch a company without any outside investors," explained Ford, who hosted an apres dinner for 25 at Caviar Kaspia. Catherine Deneuv and Elizabeth Saltzmann joined him for the meal of Breton Lobster and beluga.
The Sante Fe, Texas-born design star does have one partner, Domenico De Sole, his partner during their extraordinarily successful rein at Gucci, where they build a red ink spilling brand into a three-billion dollar luxury group in barely a decade.
Indeed, one of things that attracted Ford to Estee Lauder was precisely the fact that one family controls the fragrance business.
"I've known Lauder family socially for many years, and the fact that it is a family owned business means there is an attention to detail and a passion that, in my view, makes them the perfect partner," he stresses.
"Plus, as a kid in the US, Estee Lauder really dominated fragrance in the States, so they are really the best. Moreover, I've known John Demsey six years now. Matter of fact, I tried to steal him away for Gucci, when we acquired YSL and added a whole lot of fragrance labels. What John did for Mac was incredible, and now he's the President of Lauder. So, it was really the people," Tom adds.
Ford's own fragrance line won't be out until next fall, as developing your own scent from scratch takes so long.
"You need 18 months to develop your own fragrance, so the Lauders suggested that I take something on the shelf. I liked the idea of Youth Dew, it built Estee Lauder, rather like No 5 built Chanel. And my grandmother wore Youth Dew. That sounds like I made that up but I didn't. It's really true," he stresses.
"I wanted Amber Nude to be lighter, and we went back to IFF the company that developed it in 1953 and revamped and modernized it," says Ford of the scent, sometimes known as the first oriental scent due to its richer, deeper spicy and woody notes.
Given that his final show at Yves Saint Laurent was Chinese inspired, one wondered if Ford thinks of himself as a modern oriental? "The Chinese aesthetic I have always liked - my new house in London is Chinese Chippendale," was all he would allow.
For the ad campaign, Ford used one of Lauder's spokesmodels Carolyn Murphy. "But I wanted to show a different side of her. So Craig McDean made her look very, very sexy. I wanted to see her a little loser for the Estee woman. For me, she is one of the most beautiful women in the world."
Still, it does seem a tad ironic that one of Ford's first steps in his new independent career is reviving a 50-year-old perfume.
"My history as a designer is of going in and revamping a brand that exists already. My first foray into something new – will be my own brand,' he responds.
"Two part, my own fragrance, starts fall 06, when we launch a women's Tom Ford fragrance, a very tight makeup collection and a group of unisex fragrances. I always loved fragrance. I wear too much. When women embrace me, or give me a kiss, they always say ‘you smell so good,' which is maybe normal, as I am usually doused in it," Ford continues.

Ford, ever the gentleman, adamantly refuses to talk about his past at Gucci, the bitter departure, or reveal his opinion of any of his successors. Nonetheless, he bristles at any suggestion that he was anything but successful at anything at Gucci Group.
"I worked in scents for years, relaunched the entire Gucci brand, and its fun. With each Gucci scent we usually won every award there was to win. In the fragrance awards of Fifi, we won several for each scent… Gucci eyewear sold over a million frames a year when I was there, so this was an area where I had real success and know very, very well.," he underlines.
Returning to his ability to invert the traditional career path for establishing a fashion brand, Ford explains that's he also taking a new approach to developing a Ford fashion wing.
"In terms of men's, I need to go away and do some work – after today I go to Tokyo – and then no more interviews for about a year," he insists.
But before that he has to complete a gig with Vanity Fair magazine,
art directing its Hollywood portfolio, due out before the Oscars. He's mum about who will be in it, but says the shooting schedule is exhausting. ‘We've been everywhere; last two weeks in LA, London this weekend, Spain and Paris. It's been great fun, but a lot of work."
In news sure to disappoint fashionistas, Ford has no plans to do a fashion show.
"It's not part of world I inhabit now. I have no interest in doing one. It's kind of a counter fashion show my concept. I am a little tired seeing all the same outfits everywhere. I want to create bespoke, private, exclusive – it's not meant for the masses," he explains.
He does reveal, however, that all his men's wear will be manufactured in Italy, very quick turnaround of within four weeks of ordering a suit and with boutiques where experienced tailors who will greet customers. And his collection will include, well, everything – shoes, leather goods, ties, shirts, tennis clothes, knits, cufflinks, formal, white tie, smoking and shooting. And, for Ford fanatics, the good news is that you only have to wait until autumn 2006 when he opens his first boutiques on Madison Avenue. But, he yelps: "I can't say more, because otherwise people will start copying my ideas before we have even started them!"

[baklanyc]

That first shot of Ford posing in front of Carolyn's poster is the worst shot I've ever seen of him - it looks like a mug shot! It looks like ...er... acuter Jason Alexander. Which is so not a compliment!

[Enricochico]

Everyone has his or her bad (hair) day.
Also the photographer :-)

[Urban Stylin]

Originally Posted by baklanyc

That first shot of Ford posing in front of Carolyn's poster is the worst shot I've ever seen of him - it looks like a mug shot! It looks like ...er... acuter Jason Alexander. Which is so not a compliment!

thats hillarious!

[MariaAllegra]

Originally Posted by Enricochico

Everyone has his or her bad (hair) day.
Also the photographer :-)

[MariaAllegra]

Originally Posted by taz

Guess who was there in Colette last night?
, have you been there rive gauche?

Taz! Thank you very much for the Article and the Pictures!!!!
Rive Gauche, have you been there????? (No, I am not curious. )
If you been there, please tell us all!

[Mutterlein]

Originally Posted by ysl82

tom ford turned gucci into a billion dollar profit making company , pilati may make clothes which look good in museum and art galleries and are worn by prissy french people or stuck up fashion editors but in the end fashion is a global market , with people who want wearable sexy glamourous and confidident clothes , Tom ford did that and was about to make YSL a profit making brand when he left because his bosses wouldnt give him full control. Pilati makes clothes which are so gothic or just plain weird , how the hell are normal women going to wear that stuff. At the end of the day , fashion corps want to make money and even pilati has a deadline to turn YSL into a profit making company and if he is going to churn out clothes which make you look like matadors and nuns how the the hell are you going to make a profit?

FYI YSL has been doing very well financially under Pilati's directorship.

[saann]

Here's an article from elle.com (if it's already been posted sorry )

I love what his grandmother says when he asks her if the shoes are a bit too high

Who'd have guessed Tom Ford's comeback would start with a rethink of your (and his) grandmother's favorite fragrance? Maggie Bullock talks calories, cosmetics, and caftans with the master of reinvention.
Photographed by Gilles Bensimon

Vodka and tonic in hand, crisp white shirt unbuttoned down to there, Tom Ford is standing in ELLE's New York City photo studio holding forth on how to dress—what else?—a bed. Über-model Carolyn Murphy, who at this moment is swathed in little more than a black satin sheet, is pro-linen. “No, no, no,” Ford chides, “too rough. Chafes your elbows and knees.”

A year after his abrupt departure from the helms of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, fashion's former king of high-end kink and Estée Lauder's golden girl have formed a new beauty dream team. He is Lauder's first-ever guest designer; she is the face—and flawless body—of his inaugural project, Youth Dew Amber Nude. Dusting off a long-overlooked fragrance may not sound like a particularly Ford-worthy project, but Youth Dew happens to be a scent with a surprisingly colorful past. When it was launched, in 1953, perfume was considered a gift, not something women bought for themselves. So Estée came up with a revolutionary idea: She would introduce the fragrance as a potent, boldly sensual bath oil. After her customers were irrevocably hooked, she would give them perfume. The visionary gamble not only revved up the American fragrance game, it made Estée Lauder MVP. In a streamlined version of the original gold-beribboned bottle, Ford's lighter, clearer Amber Nude contains notes of dark chocolate, grapefruit, and (surprise) something the company calls “bare skin.” As for what her grandmother would think of the provocateur sexing up her lovingly built, family-run empire, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, the company's senior vice president, laughs. “Everyone remembers Estée as an older woman, but she knew there was value in shocking people,” Aerin says. “She'd get a kick out of him. In her forties, she was Tom times 20.”

Why Youth Dew?

I walked in knowing I wanted it. It's the fragrance that built Estée, part of the DNA of the brand. It's iconic. Joan Crawford said it was how she snagged Alfred Steele, the Pepsi guy. And my grandmother wore it. I bought her former home in Santa Fe in 1995, and when I moved in I could still smell Youth Dew all over the house. That tells you how strong it was. The first thing we did with Amber Nude was cut the concentration of the original by 50 percent.

Wasn't your grandmother a bit of a character?

You could say that. She was the Texas version of Auntie Mame. She had six husbands, but number three was the one she loved, so she called numbers four, five, and six by his name, Harold. She was the first to wear Courrèges transparent pantsuits, the first to wear bell-bottoms. When I was a child, she was just…magic.

I read that she once had a high-heeled cast made.
Is that true?

Absolutely. At 75, she slipped on some ice in heels and a fur coat and broke her leg. The doctor made her a cast with a heel so she could still wear her shoes.

So the shoes were nonnegotiable?

She had them custom-made in Las Vegas. Her closet was full of hundreds of pairs of identical Lucite platforms with different flowers suspended in their heels to match each of her caftans. Once, she was trying on a pair and I said, “Aren't those a little high?” She had the best line: “Honey, I'm not going to let six inches stand in the way of my being beautiful.”

You're the master of telling women what we want to wear. What do we want, beauty-wise?

Young girls suddenly think it's cool to carry a tube of lipstick again. When everyone else is slathering on the same wand of lip gloss, suddenly it becomes a luxurious ritual to pull a beautiful lipstick out of your bag. The one thing I hate is seeing women put on their makeup in the car. I'm not saying you have to spend a lot of time on it, but even if it's just five minutes, it should be precise. It should be perfect.

Carolyn Murphy looks pretty perfect in the new ad.

I wanted to show a completely different side of the Estée Lauder woman—more glamorous, more evening. The fragrance itself is dark, rich, like maple syrup, so we made Carolyn look like a piece of butterscotch, like cognac, stretched out like a Playboy centerfold—a very expensive Playboy centerfold.

The Ford Formula strikes again.

Of course people will say, “Oh, it's skin, it's naked. It's so Tom Ford.” But I didn't put sex into this fragrance; it was already there. The original ad shows a woman stepping out of the shower, totally nude. You feel like you're spying on her. And that came out in 1953!