Beyond promoting the show’s Asian theme, Tom Ford’s choice of a velvet jacket in scarlet red seemed to carry a metaphorical message for his last bow as designer of Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci.
Cut sharply around his broad shoulders and nipping his slim waist, the red jacket was emblematic of his bloody divorce from Gucci, the company he rebuilt.
As an A-list designer, Ford has less name recognition than a C-list actor. Yet Ford’s departure is the biggest news in fashion, the equivalent of Katie Couric leaving television or Michael Jordan walking away from basketball and the Bulls.
Thanks to Ford, Gucci is one of the most desirable and successful brands in the world. More than a company success story, Gucci’s business template was imitated by designer businesses. He created a persona around which fashionistas rallied.
“He changed the face of fashion, he really did,” said Dawn Mello, a former president of tony Bergdorf Goodman, who hired Ford in the early ’90s when she was president of Gucci.
Although fashionistas agree his contributions to their trade have been enormous, the most interesting take on his legacy may be his own. Ford, 42, is writing a book due in the fall. Full of some of the most memorable fashion images of our time, it will be “about me,” he said, “and about my years at Gucci.”
A memoir so soon? The photographs alone will be of historic importance. Ford ushered in a look in fashion that set cash registers ringing.
It was based on a perspicuous idea: sex. With Ford, however, the sexuality wasn’t raw and harsh, but refined and sophisticated. The look included low-slung, boot-cut pants, satin shirts, body-hugging jersey gowns, stiletto shoes and fur jackets. Everything looked hip, controlled and, above all, luxurious.
Gucci became the uniform of the arriviste, a Gucci shoe or handbag epitomizing a certain knowing chic, alongside other labels like Prada that came to the fore in the ’90s.
Ford had a hand in almost every part of the business, an unusual but ideal situation for a designer, and he wielded his power to good effect. Advertising, store design, celebrity associations, as well as clothing and accessories, all came under Ford’s oeuvre, all carried his message of a luxe sexuality, slightly decadent.
For fall, Ford rips off Ford
He used his final collections–Gucci shown in Milan three weeks ago and YSL in Paris a week later–to refine his oeuvre. Customers shopping Gucci this fall will find a compilation of Ford’s greatest hits.
Evening looks that celebrate the sultry sexiness for which he became known exuded smashing glamor.
Sparkling, sequin tops and brilliantly colored furs are sure to be hits. And gowns reminiscent of the peek-a-boo dresses he designed in the ’90s will become signature pieces.
“The eveningwear was extraordinary,” said Anna Wintour, editor in chief of Vogue, noting the fringed pieces. “Going back into his own archives was a brilliant idea. He wanted to rip himself off and he created a collector’s collection.”
The Orient was a petri dish of ideas for the now-retired French designer Saint Laurent. Ford mined this legacy while refining his own idea of what the brand stands for today.
Elegant, tightly fitted jackets in satin with pagoda-style shoulders were paired with contrasting satin skirts that outlined the hips like skin on a ripe Bombay mango. It was a memorable farewell.
Ford was a galvanizing figure and a hero to designers. He and his longtime boyfriend Richard Buckley, editor of L’Uomo Vogue, brought an approachable humanity to the business that contrasted sharply with the divisive clubbiness that usually plagues fashion.
After reviving the Gucci brand, Ford and Gucci CEO Domenico de Sole, who also is leaving, went on a buying spree. They snapped up companies such as YSL and others they thought they could build into prestige brands.
“He had an unerring eye for talent,” Wintour said, ticking off the designers Ford had made a comfortable home for at Gucci. “Nicolas [Ghesquiere at Balenciaga] has become a star in his own right, there’s Thomas Maier of Bottega Veneta, Stella [McCartney] is the J.Lo of fashion and Alexander McQueen is a terrific talent.”
‘But fashion moves on’
Fashion insiders have already come to terms with the fashion star’s exit (the result of contract disputes over control, money or both). In Italy, where the Gucci family founded and lost the company, star wattage going in and out is nothing new.
“What he did in fashion was very rare,” said longtime Italian fashion marketer Pierfelipo Pieri. “But fashion moves on.”
He invoked another great designer. “Valentino dressed Jackie O, Diana Ross and Princess Grace.” It meant so much back then, but does it mean anything today? Fashion, pop culture’s perpetual child, is always looking for what’s new.
Fashion is driven by change, Wintour noted.
“Tom is a superstar, but we’re all looking forward to what the new designers will bring, and I think Tom will return to fashion at some point.”
The company has plucked Ford’s replacements from its ranks. Stefano Pilati will take over YSL and a trio is being installed at Gucci: Alessandra Facchinetti, John Ray and Alfreda Giannini.
Sue Patneaude, executive vice president at Nordstrom, which has two YSL boutiques, welcomes a designer devoted to YSL alone.
“When a designer has a lot of commitments you can’t expect the best,” she said. “There are very few Karl Lagerfelds in the world who can balance all of them. Maybe Tom was one of them, but we feel YSL needs its own designer.”
“In three years,” said Pieri, eyeing the emotional crowd of well-wishers surrounding Ford at his farewell party in Milan following the Gucci show, “we’ll have a beautiful young actress who will wear his Gucci as vintage.”
Ford himself says he does not know yet whether he’ll return to fashion. Until April when his contract expires, he’ll be overseeing the fall ad campaigns. Then, “I’ll be really free,” he said.
He definitely wants to direct a movie, he told Women’s Wear Daily, the fashion trade paper.
He has signed with CAA, the Hollywood talent agency. The Tinseltown route likely will be difficult, but it’s not unheard of. Joel Schumacher was a window dresser and creative director at Henri Bendel before morphing into a top director of hits like “Batman.”
