Tom Ford: Sexy As Ever, Now A Filmmaker

He went from the man who remade Gucci to designer of his own fashion line. Just when you thought you had him figured out, he turns film director! Tom Ford is the lauded director of A Single Man, an epic about emotions starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. Ford breaks new barriers — in impeccable style, of course.

By Theresa Tan

I interviewed Tom Ford 11 years ago in Milan.  He was the Creative Director at Gucci, and the designer every fashion editor wanted to interview (or at least air-kiss) — he was known to be charming, had a memory like an elephant (true: he remembered me when I met him years later in New York) and was always filled with great ideas, from silver tampon holders to dogbeds that humans want to sit in. To read about his directorial debut fills me with a strange joy.  He has always been a maverick — he was not a fashion designer when he joined the house of Gucci.  He was trained in architecture.  Yet, his incredible eye for what makes a woman look like an unattainable goddess resulted in Gucci becoming synonymous with “sex”.  And of course, that sold very, very well.  His departure from Gucci left a trail of devastated (but very beautiful) photo-articles on what Tom Ford was going to do next.  There was talk about him becoming a cowboy. Or an actor.  Or he would simply start his own line of clothing that everybody would desire.

Deciding after a while that he was not going to make a very good (or young) actor, Ford decided to apply his extraordinary taste and perfect eye to filmmaking.  Adapting Christopher Isherwood’s book of the same name, and roping in the production designer for award-winning TV series Mad Men, Ford crafted a beautiful visual feast set in the ’60s, that tells of the story of a gay British college professor who still mourns the death of his partner after seven years.  He is pursued by both men and one woman – Julianne Moore (wearing a Brit accent).

A Single Man has already won Firth a Volpi award, and for Ford, a collection of raving reviews and four-star ratings.

A review in The Times said: “It’s no surprise that the feature film directing debut of fashion designer Tom Ford is a thing of heart-stopping beauty.  He celebrates the male form with a sensual reverence… It looks like a Wallpaper magazine photo shoot styled by Douglas Sirk. But what is a little more unexpected… is that this is no frothy, throwaway piece of pretty silliness.  Rather it’s a work of emotional honesty and authenticity which announces the arrival of a serious filmmaking talent.  There will be critics who will be unable to get past the director’s background, but rest assured: Tom Ford is the real deal.”

Ford calls it “the most personal thing I’ve ever done and it’s the thing that is the most expressive of who I am. If you know me as a fashion designer, people would think that I’m one thing — slick, sexy.  That’s something that I do as a product.  This (film) for me was the first pure artistic expression that I’ve ever created so in that way it’s much more personal to me and I’m more vulnerable in a way because it is so personal.”

It’s a great feeling to see one of the world’s true Renaissance men lasso, corral and conqueran art form that’s new to him.  Now that’s what I call devastating talent and impeccable style.

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