







Thomas Ford (born August

27, 1961) is an American fashion designer. He

gained international fame for his

turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label.
Gucci creative director (1994–2004)
In 1994, Ford was promoted to creative director. In his first year at the helm, he was credited with putting the glamor back into fashion introducing Halston-style velvet hipsters, skinny satin shirts and car-finish metallic patent boots. In 1995, he brought in French stylist Carine Roitfeld and photographer Mario Testino to create a series of new, modern ad campaigns for the company. Between 1995 and 1996, sales at Gucci increased by 90%.[31]
By 1999, the house, which had been almost bankrupt when Ford joined, was valued at about $4.3 billion.
When Gucci acquired the house of Yves Saint-Laurent, Ford was named the creative director of that label as well. During his time as Creative Director for YSL, Ford won numerous Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards. Like his work at Gucci, Ford was able to catapult the classic fashion house back into the mainstream.
His advertising campaigns for the YSL fragrances Opium (with a red-haired Sophie Dahl completely naked wearing only a necklace and stiletto heels in a sexually suggestive pose) and YSL M7 (with martial arts champion Samuel de Cubber in complete full-frontal nudity) have been famous and provocative by pushing fragrance ads to a new level of creativity in artistic expression and commercial impact.
Some of his hats for Yves Saint Laurent were created by Prudence Millinery.
In April 2004, Ford parted company with the Gucci group after he and CEO Domenico de Sole, who is credited as Ford's partner in the success story that is Gucci, failed to agree with PPR bosses over creative con

trol of the Group.
Following his departure from Gucci (and YSL), Ford opened the fashion house, Tom Ford.[32] Ford began with accessories; his line of eyewear was the first to become successful through a continuing partnership with Marcolin SPA. The Tom Ford line now covers Menswear, Beauty, Eyewear, and both Men and Women's Accessories. In 2006, he also established a fragrance line called Tom Ford Beauty. In early 2006, Ford attracted media attention for appearing fully clothed on the cover of Vanity Fair alongside Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson, both nude.[33]
Ford's first 'Tom Ford' flagship store opened on April 12, 2007 on New York City's Madison Avenue. In Spring 2008, Ford opened his first boutique outside of the United States in Zurich, Switzerland located at Munsterhof 17.[34][35] In September 2008 Ford opened a boutique in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Harry Rosen store on Bloor street.
As of December 2008, Ford's directorial debut, A Single Man, has been in production. The film is based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood and has been adapted to screen by Ford and David Scearce. The cast includes Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Lee Pace.
In June 2009, Ford appeared at Selfridges in London to launch his new fragrance Bois Marocain.