Tom Ford

Tom Ford met fashion journalist Richard Buckley in 1986, and the couple married in 2014. They had a son, Alexander John Buckley Ford, who is also known by the nickname Jack, through a surrogate in 2012. Buckley died in September 2021 after a long illness.

Ford is openly gay and has advocated for federal recognition of same-sex marriage in the United States. His family has lived between homes in several cities, including London, Los Angeles, New York City, and Santa Fe.

Ford began his fashion career as a design assistant to Cathy Hardwick before working at Perry Ellis. He joined Gucci in Milan in 1990 as the company’s womenswear designer, became design director in 1992, and was promoted to creative director in 1994. During his Gucci tenure, he expanded into menswear, shoes, fragrances, advertising, and store design.

Ford replaced Gucci’s restrained early-1990s image with 1970s-inspired clothing defined by velvet, satin, slim silhouettes, and overt sex appeal. In 1995, he hired stylist Carine Roitfeld and photographer Mario Testino to create new advertising campaigns. Ford also helped bring Gucci’s parent group into the acquisition of Yves Saint Laurent and became the designer of the Saint Laurent Rive Gauche ready-to-wear line in 2000. He left the Gucci group in 2004 after a disagreement over control of the company.

Ford founded his eponymous fashion house in 2005 with Domenico De Sole, who became chairman. The label developed menswear, womenswear, eyewear, footwear, accessories, and beauty products. Its first flagship store opened in New York in 2007, and Ford presented his first womenswear collection at London Fashion Week in 2010.

Ford’s clothing has included designs for major public figures and entertainers. He created Daniel Craig’s suits for Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre, and No Time to Die. He also designed more than 600 pieces for Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience World Tour and created the suits, shirts, and accessories for the music video for “Suit & Tie.” The Tom Ford label was sold to Estée Lauder Companies in 2023.

Ford formed the production company Fade to Black before making his directorial debut with A Single Man in 2009. He wrote, produced, and directed the drama, which was adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s novel and starred Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, and Matthew Goode. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Lion, and Firth won the festival’s Volpi Cup for Best Actor.

Ford’s second feature, Nocturnal Animals, was released in 2016. He wrote, produced, and directed the psychological thriller, adapting Austin Wright’s novel Tony and Susan. Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal led the cast, with Michael Shannon, Armie Hammer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Laura Linney in supporting roles. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

Ford has received multiple Council of Fashion Designers of America awards, including the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. His honors also include the 2000 International Designer of the Year Award from the Fashion Editors Club of Japan, the 2003 Fashion Design Achievement Award from the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, and the 2007 Vito Russo Award from GLAAD.

He published Tom Ford in 2004, covering his work at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, and followed it with Tom Ford 002 in 2021. His designs and advertising campaigns are associated with a polished, sexually charged aesthetic, while his use of nudity and provocative imagery has generated criticism and controversy.