I love Tom Ford. I love everything he does. He is an icon. He gave a deflated Gucci some much needed CPR when the house was bankrupt in 1999 and credibly held his own as creative director of YSL, again breathing life into a legendary label. He is celebrated in the world of fashion because he knows how to glorify every part of a woman’s body. Not only that, he even conquers the film world. His directing debut; A Single Man, was effortlessly styled and won major critical acclaim as seen by several Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. Not bad for a fashion designer. Despite admiring his many talents, I must admit I was thrilled when I heard he was returning to women’s wear after six years. I wanted to see how he would interpret new trends, what his inspiration would be, what colours and textures he would use, how big would it be. I just wanted to see it.
Tom stated that the incentive for a new collection came to him via Tilda Swindon. When watching her one of her films, he admired her clothing and knew it was time to return. He says, “It happened organically. I told myself I would not come back to women’s until I felt I had something new to say, and I decided I’m only going to do it if I have fun. Which means I’m going to do it my way. If it’s successful, great. If it’s not, I’ll close it. But I think it will be successful.” He said he wanted to return fashion to its artistic roots like the late Alexander McQueen did so well. I was so exited; I could see the colours, the shapes and the innovative design in my mind already. Ford explained “I want to make beautiful clothes for women and men who appreciate detail, quality. That’s what I do. I felt that I wasn’t seeing that coming from anywhere else. And I wanted fashion to be fun. I think all the fun’s gone out of fashion.” This collection could be the pinnacle of his career.
So, upon hearing the news that collection had been debuted, I clicked on every fashion site known to woman, scrolling down alphabetically searching for TOM FORD. It was nowhere to be seen. How puzzling. It’s fashion week and every other collection is available for me to feast my eyes on. Maybe it will be up tomorrow. I returned to my laptop the next day and still couldn’t find the collection but instead saw a Tom Ford titled article in the news section. I read all of these wonderful things about his new pieces. The collection debuted at an intimate gathering at his store in Madison Avenue. The guest list was comprised of fashion elite, none of those front-row Lindsay Lohan wannabes, not even knowing what they were clapping for but posing for every photograph, desperate to be seen in the front- row. No, this was a very different type of exhibition. Rather than expressionless cloned models that we are so used to seeing, Ford asked inspirational women such as Beyonce and Julianne Moore to model the creations. Ford wanted his return to be perfect.
The designer was true to his word when he said he wanted to return fashion to its roots. There were no photographers, apart from Terry Richardson and nothing would be released online or anywhere else until DECEMBER!!! Although, bitterly disappointed I wanted to know why, Tom, why??? Ford explained, “You see the clothes, within an hour or so they’re online, the world sees them. They don’t get to a store for six months. The next week, young celebrity girls are wearing them on red carpets. They’re in every magazine. The customer is bored with those clothes by the time they get to the store.” I don’t want to admit it but he is right. Fashion is over exposed and too immediate nowadays and it has become little more than a telling of a celebrity’s A-list status and the clothes themselves are forgotten about. Furthermore, his approach is, financially, a clever one. If these clothes are readily available for our mouths to water over online every day, by the time the season comes, we’re bored of them. This way, the mystery surrounding the collection will generate so much interest, that by December every item will be sold out in a flash. I have no doubt about that.
I am still angry about not seeing the collection but I agree that fashion has become something else entirely. It’s not all about creation and design anymore. I know that Paris Hilton doesn’t sit at Versace and think, “Wow, what a masterpiece” but rather “Wow, I could get so much exposure if I was papped in that dress”. Imagine how disgusting that is to designers who want to be legendary creators, not celebrities. However, at the same time I appreciate the immediacy. For poor, non-celebs like myself, the internet gives me a chance to appreciate the clothes and be part of something that I am so passionate about. It will be hard to reverse the situation of overexposure, but at least Tom Ford is taking a step in the right direction, whatever his motives may be…
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