Tom Ford isn’t out of fashion for long
Move over Gucci, Tom Ford is back. And this time he’s branding himself. The former Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent designer, auteur of hedonistic 1990s style, announced his return to designing luxury goods on Tuesday with the formation of a new company. The first order of business will be an alliance with Estee Lauder to create an eponymous beauty brand, and a line of licensed eyewear with Marcolin Group.
Ford will reunite with Domenico De Sole, who departed Gucci Group with Ford a year ago this month. Their new company, to be called simply Tom Ford, will be self-financed, with corporate headquarters in Los Angeles and a design studio in London.
“At first, I didn’t think I would want to come back” to fashion, Ford said in a phone interview from New York. “But I realized how much I missed it.”
In the development of a fashion brand, the clothing collection usually comes before licensing deals are spun off. “I’m in a different position,” explained Ford, who will serve as the company’s president and chief executive. “I can have licensing deals to finance the company, so I don’t need outside investors. These are two product areas I’m excited about, and it leaves me time to pursue the perfect film, which is not something I’m giving up.”
When Ford, 43, announced his departure from the fashion industry last spring, he headed for Hollywood. Intent on a directing career, he opened Fade to Black Productions in the former Geffen Records building and signed with CAA agent Bryan Lourd.
“It’s one of the reasons I haven’t announced a return to women’s ready-to-wear,” Ford said. “I’m inching toward it, but at the moment I’m determined to make a film. I called Bryan at CAA to ask him if he thought people would take me less seriously. He said every actor and actress these days is dying for a fragrance deal, so I’m kind of going at that in a different way too.”
The Lauder alliance is a two-phase, multiyear deal. First will come an exclusive Tom Ford for Estee Lauder line for the 2005 holiday season, followed by a larger collection for spring 2006 with broader distribution. In the second phase, there will be a stand-alone Tom Ford beauty brand and fragrance, possibly as early as fall of next year. Lauder has had relationships with designers such as Donna Karan and Tommy Hilfiger, and recently signed fragrance deals with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and Donald Trump.
“Ford is charismatic, he has amazing taste and style, and even the rumor, and the rumor of the rumor, generated press,” John Demsey, Estee Lauder Global Brand president, said in a phone interview. “Estee Lauder herself had an uncanny ability to understand what women want. She was rooted in fashion and style. And so is Tom Ford.” Lauder died last April at 97.
Just-rolled-around-in-bed makeup and hair was part of the iconic Gucci look. But Ford’s hands-on experience in beauty thus far has been in fragrance. He launched Gucci’s Rush in 1999 and Saint Laurent’s Nu in 2001.
The Tom Ford for Lauder collection was conceived to acquaint a new generation with products from the cosmetic giant’s archives, such as Youth Dew and decorative compacts, Ford said. The later stand-alone Tom Ford brand “will have an aesthetic that is in some ways similar to Gucci. It will be less flashy but still provocative and very sensual.”
The beauty brand may bear his name, but Ford does not want to be the face. “You can always hire someone better looking than yourself,” he joked. “And I’m not posing nude, I’ll say that.”
The licensing deal with Marcolin involves the design, production and distribution of optical frames and sunglasses. The collection is expected to be in stores by early 2006. The eyewear firm also has deals with Kenneth Cole and Roberto Cavalli.
Ford wears eyeglasses himself but said, “No one ever sees them because I can’t find anything I love.” But he is frequently photographed in sunglasses. “They are the only accessories a man can wear that can really change his look.”
Ford said he could be designing clothes again as early as next year. By doing eyewear and beauty first, Ford and De Sole are creating desire before actual products, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for market research firm NPD Group.
“What is going on is a recognition that it’s not necessarily the product that’s going to drive growth in business. It’s about lifestyle marketing,” he said. “This is an obvious opportunity to connect with consumers who have a relationship with a designer. And when you look at who is making product decisions these days, it’s the consumer. It used to be the manufacturer, the designer or even the retailer. But now it’s the consumer who says, ‘I don’t care what you put on the floor, if I don’t like it I’m not going to buy it. Or I’m going to go elsewhere, or I’m going to wait until it comes around again.’ ”
Cohen hailed the approach. “This is the beginning of marketing directly to the consumer. [Ford and De Sole] are going for the sweet spot in the market. And from that, they will learn who their customers are and what they want. The user will guide them along, as opposed to creating something from scratch.”
Ford was born in Austin, Texas, and raised in Santa Fe, N.M. He’s among the most influential designers alive today. He defined the sultry style of the 1990s with feather-trimmed jeans, bamboo stilettos, velvet hip-huggers and keyhole cutout jersey gowns. He also defined a new role as a designer-businessman, with a knack for translating the zeitgeist into waitlisted products. During his 10 years as creative director of Gucci Group, the brand went from a crusty leather goods house to a global fashion leader, with sales increasing from about $230 million to $3 billion annually.
A former child actor, Ford has an affinity for Los Angeles, where he lives in a Richard Neutra house in Bel-Air and pals around with producer Mitch Glazer and actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.
De Sole was instrumental in turning the financial side of Gucci Group around. Under his leadership, the company went from near bankruptcy in 1994 to a public listing on the stock market. As chairman of the Tom Ford company, he will have an office in Los Angeles.
Ford and De Sole left the Gucci Group last year after a battle with the largest shareholder, Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, over the terms of their contracts, in particular, managerial independence. This time they will have no one to answer to but themselves.
