Who is Thomas Carlyle? He is Tom Ford. But who is Tom Ford? This is where things begin to get much more complicated, Tom Ford as a young man always had that creative quality inside him, just fighting to be let out. Initially studying art history at New York university, he redirected his study focus to architecture at Parsons School of Design in New York and Paris. Mr Ford's love of fashion however, was not triggered until he interned at Chloé's press office. Despite completing his degree in architecture, Ford spent his final year at Parson's studying fashion.
Having been born in Austin Texas, then moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and then studying in New York, Ford's design style was very much American, this he felt was very tacky. A quote from an interview with the New York Times shows us exactly what Ford thought about style in America, he stated "If I was ever going to become a good designer, I had to leave America. My own culture was inhibiting me. Too much style in America is tacky. It's looked down upon to be too stylish. Europeans, however, appreciate style.". Leave America is exactly what Ford done. In 1990, Tom Ford moved to Milan to join Gucci as the company's womenswear designer as they were looking to strengthen this division and to grow.
Tom Ford however, did not just stop at womenswear, he took Gucci by storm, becoming the design director just two years after in 1992, and a further two years after that in 1994, being appointed creative director of Gucci overall! He was responsible for it all, the clothing lines, the store design, the advertising, and the perfumes, Ford done it all, and he done it VERY well. Tom Ford worked for Gucci for 10 years, climbing in rank (at the time of his departure, he was vice chairman of the management board of the Gucci group). He revamped the Gucci brand and took it to where it is today, his work with Gucci increased their sales from $230,000,000 (230 million dollars) in 1994, to almost $3,000,000,000 (3 billion dollars) in 2003, causing Gucci to become one of the largest luxury brands worldwide.
In 2005, one year after his departure from Gucci, Tom Ford established the Tom Ford brand, which provided a line of menswear, womenswear, beauty, eyewear, fragrances, accessories, etc. That same year, Ford announced the launch of his film production company, making his directorial debut in 2009 with the film "a single man". Ford has received a numerous amount of awards and accolades, earning lifetime achievement awards, man of the year awards, designer of the year, best dressed men hall of fame, international man of the year awards and so much more. It goes without saying that Tom Ford is not finished yet, and will continue to sweep the world of fashion off of their feet in the months and years to come.