Celebrated fashion designer Tom Ford is best known for turning Gucci into a brand worth billions of dollars, before leaving the business to launch his own highly successful brand.
Tom Ford's impact on Gucci is indisputable. Through his bold designs, provocative marketing campaigns, and reimagining of classic motifs, Ford not only saved Gucci from the brink of bankruptcy but also reshaped the luxury fashion industry.
Tom Ford, (born August 27, 1961, Austin, Texas, U.S.), American fashion designer and film director who was credited with reviving the fashion house Gucci during his tenure as creative director (1994–2004).
"I was deeply sad for several days after watching House of Gucci, a reaction that I think only those of us who knew the players and the play will feel," Ford writes. "It was hard for me to see the humor and camp in something that was so bloody.
2004, The Gucci Group announced the three designers to lead the creative team for Gucci after Tom Ford's departure. Alessandra Facchinetti, design director for four years, took full responsibility of Gucci's womenswear division, John Ray took over menswear and Frida Giannini became creative director of accessories.
Ford left Gucci the following year to start his own brand, explaining to Women's Wear Daily at the time that the decision “was about control”. Peter Hawkings joined Gucci when Ford was at the helm in 1998, going on to join his colleague at the Tom Ford brand in 2006.
Tom Ford label
After leaving Gucci, Ford launched a line of menswear, beauty, eyewear, and accessories in 2006, named after himself. De Sole became chairman of the label. Ford has described "the Tom Ford customer" as international, cultured, well-traveled, and possessing disposable income.
“I was deeply sad for several days after watching House of Gucci, a reaction that I think only those of us who knew the players and the play will feel,” he concluded in his essay. “It was hard for me to see the humor and camp in something that was so bloody. In real life, none of it was camp.
In the '80s, with family feuds on the horizon, Maurizio Gucci and Dawn Mellow (Gucci's creative director at the time) hired the then-up-and-coming American designer Tom Ford from Texas to oversee its women's ready-to-wear collection and to help revamp the fashion house.
Ford's longtime men's wear designer, is getting the job. But the final collection reveal also offered a marked contrast to Mr. Ford's last grand goodbye, when he left Gucci in 2004.
He saved Gucci from bankruptcy
But after Ford became its creative director, Gucci's sales spiked with revenues of US$500 million in 1995.
“I recently survived a screening of the two-hour-and-37-minute film that is House of Gucci,” Ford wrote. While he admitted he was perhaps biased due to his experience at the luxury fashion house, he continued, “The movie rivals the nighttime soap Dynasty for subtlety but does so with a much bigger budget.
Tom Ford has a net worth of $2 billion as of 2023, thanks to the sale of his fashion brand to Estée Lauder in late 2022 which brought his net worth from around $500 million to $2 billion.
Gucci is owned by the French holding company Kering, which purchased an $8.8 billion stake in the iconic Italian fashion brand in 2004. Artémis, the investment firm of the Pinault family led by François Pinault, is Kering's leading shareholder and holds a majority share in the company through its parent organization.
Guccio Gucci founded the famous fashion house in Florence, Italy in 1921. According to reporting by Rebag, before starting his namesake label, Gucci worked as a porter at the Savoy Hotel in London.
She lives in Milan
Reggiani told The Guardian in 2016 that she lived with her then 89-year-old mother in a town house in Milan, and can be spotted around upscale neighbourhoods with her parrot on weekends, according to British Vogue.
In 2023, The Estée Lauder Companies became the sole owner of the TOM FORD brand and all its intellectual property. Founded in 1910 in Trivero, Italy , the Ermenegildo Zegna Group (NYSE: ZGN) is a leading global luxury group.
Each Tom Ford Products Is Crafted By Expert Artisans
As with many other luxury labels, such as Dolce & Gabbana and Versace, Tom Ford is mostly made in Italy by trained artisans. The "Made in Italy" mark is favored by luxury fashion labels because it is associated with superior quality, resources, and craftsmanship.
Tom Ford's collections for Gucci are the stuff of fashion legend. As creative director of the house from 1994 until 2004, he championed all-out sexiness, putting risqué silhouettes and suggestive fabrics centre stage.
Maurizio Gucci was blamed for spending extravagantly on the company's headquarters in Florence and Milan. He went on to sell his remaining company stock in 1993 for $170 million to Investcorp, ending the Gucci family's association with the company.
In a statement the Gucci family released after the House of Gucci's premiere in November 2021, one thing was clear: they were not pleased with the film's portrayal of their family members' narratives.
The acquisition was driven by the strength of Tom Ford's beauty business, which includes fragrance, cosmetics and skin care, and for which Estée Lauder has had a longstanding licensing agreement.
Guillaume Jesel has been appointed president and chief executive officer of the brand, and Peter Hawkings (Ford's rumoured successor and the brand's menswear designer) will fill Ford's shoes as creative director.