According to Mello, "Maurizio always wanted everything to be round and brown, and Tom wanted to make it square and black." Though Maurizio Gucci wanted to fire Ford, Domenico De Sole insisted that he remain. During these years, there were creative tensions between Ford and Maurizio Gucci, the company's chairman and 50% owner. In 1993, when he was in charge of designing eleven product lines, Ford worked eighteen-hour days. When Richard Lambertson left as design director in 1992, Ford took over his position, heading the brand's ready-to-wear, fragrances, image, advertising, and store design. įord's role at Gucci rapidly expanded he was designing menswear within six months, and shoes soon after that. "For an American designer to move to Italy to join a company that was far from being a brand would have been pretty risky." Ford and his longtime partner, fashion journalist Richard Buckley, relocated to Milan that September. "I was talking to a lot of people, and most didn't want the job," Mello said. In 1990, Mello hired Ford as the brand's chief women's ready-to-wear designer and Ford moved to Milan. The company's creative director, Dawn Mello said, "no one would dream of wearing Gucci". Europeans, however, appreciate style." Īt the time, Italian fashion house Gucci was struggling financially and was seeking to strengthen its women's ready-to-wear presence as a part of a brand overhaul. In a later interview with The New York Times, he commented, "If I was ever going to become a good designer, I had to leave America.
He worked at the company for two years, but grew tired of working in American fashion. In 1988, Ford moved to Perry Ellis, where he knew both Robert McDonald, the company's president, and Marc Jacobs, its designer, socially. He said, ' Armani and Chanel.' Months later I asked him why he said that, and he said, 'Because you were wearing something Armani.' Is it any wonder he got the job?" Ford worked as a design assistant for Hardwick for two years. I asked him who his favorite European designers were. She later recalled the incident: "I had every intention of giving him no hope. Hardwick eventually agreed to interview him. Despite his lack of experience in fashion, Ford called American designer Cathy Hardwick every day for a month in hopes of securing a job at her sportswear company. When interviewing for jobs after graduation, Ford said that he had attended The New School's Parsons division, but concealed that he graduated in architecture, and that his work at Chloé was a low-level public relations position. He spent his final year at The New School studying fashion, but graduated with a degree in architecture. Before his last year at New School, Ford spent a year and a half in Paris, where he worked as an intern in Chloé's press office, inspiring his interest in fashion. The club's disco-era glamor would be a major influence on his later designs. He kept visiting Studio 54, where he realized he was gay. įord began studying interior architecture at The New School's art and design college, Parsons The New School for Design, in New York City. Ford dropped out after a year, focusing on acting in television commercials. There he met Ian Falconer, who took him to Studio 54 for the first time. He moved to New York City to study art history at New York University. Īt age 16, he enrolled at Bard College at Simon's Rock, but quickly dropped out. Michael's High School and later moved to Santa Fe Preparatory School, from which he graduated in 1979. His family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, when he was 11.
He rearranged furniture in the house at 6, and gave his mother feedback on her hair and shoes. He spent his early life in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, and in San Marcos, outside Austin. Thomas Carlyle Ford was born on August 27, 1961, in Austin, Texas, the son of realtors Shirley Burton (née Shirley Ann Thrasher) and Thomas David Ford (1932-2020). He later graduated from the New School with a degree in architecture. He later enrolled at Bard College at Simon's Rock before leaving prior to graduation. He currently serves as the chairman of the Board of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.īorn in Texas, Ford grew up in Houston and San Marcos. Ford wrote and directed the films A Single Man (2009) and Nocturnal Animals (2016). He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker.
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