Tom Ford made his name and established his reputation from his days as a designer at Gucci where he set up the brand’s femme-fatale reputation, which still resonates today. When Ford launched his eponymously-named collection in 2010, initially he chose to present in a way that very much spoke to an old-school way of doing fashion. A slap in the face of the exploding social media/blogger scene, Ford went with a highly-exclusive, print-media only invite list and a virtual shut down on image distribution. It was very much a “you can’t sit with us” statement with only a select few welcome.
Since launching, Ford has warmed up to or perhaps caught up with social media and pop culture and not only showed his women’s Autumn collection during London Fashion Week with instantly-available images, but also included a collaboration with Black Boy Place an emerging French streetwear label whose most popular piece is a Magna Carta World Tour Jay-Z x Tom Ford concert tee, an ode to the Jay-Z’s song, “Tom Ford.” The new direction for Ford speaks to the power of streetwear and is yet another acknowledgement of its expanded influence on fashion.
