Men’s Style Icon – Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle Ford Actor, fashion designer, creative director at fashion houses, film director, head of his own company and style icon. From his famous turnaround of the Gucci Fashion House, to the creation of the TOM FORD brand, and no to mention the directing the Oscar nominated film ‘A Single Man’, is there nothing this man can not do?!Born in Austin, Texas and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Ford’s design philosophy was shaped at an early age by the women he saw around him, including a grandmother who was the very definition of “style”.
For an urban, city man Tom Ford can be one of the very best style icons around, he composes the perfect smart/casual chic that modern professionals aim to have. His personal style usually consists of classic suit silhouettes that as he describes:
“gives a man strong shoulders, a fitted waist,
and long legs”
It’s classic and will always work. Often his suits are button up with a bow tie or simply a tie. However if not, the shirt (usually with a high collar) is left open. Its all about the frame, structure and the perfect fit with Ford.
“At home, off-duty, I wear T-shirts from Fruit of the Loom – but I have them tailored.”
Having a degree from the Parsons School of Design in interior architecture, gives us an insight as to where his amazing sense of proportion, fondness for simplicity and beautiful clean lines come from in his garments & style. His work for the company is usually a little more bolder concerning the prints and colour palettes, than what he himself seems to be sporting. He often wears a monochrome style, very similar to some of the styles that the late Mr. Cary Grant once wore- a timeless look, which suits him so well.
Tom Ford has beautifully mastered the art of an attractive powerful image that makes this gay man so seductively attractive to women. When he began at Gucci he introduced Halston-style velvet hipsters, skinny satin shirts and metallic patent boots… oh nudity. After Gucci acquired the YSL house he hit the public with a sexy- suggestive image of Sophie Dahl in an advertisement for Opium perfume.
“The Gucci woman––you know what she’s after. The Saint Laurent woman––she’s going to torture you a little bit. You might have sex, but she will drip a little hot wax on you first.”-Ford
He’s brilliant at using sex-appeal to attract media attention whether it be in his work or his personal style, its so sophisticated he balances everything it perfectly.
Ford possesses the undeniable ability to take a concept or use a favored image of his that and reinvented them as garments or accessories or a pair of beautiful shoes, he consequently inspired the same bond in his consumers.
A truly talented designer, his life, his career, his public appearances and his looks how could he not be a style icon?!
Adopt the Tom Ford Style
By Melissa Sinclair
another brilliant piece, keep em coming!