Won’t someone please think of the children?
This is Tom Ford.
Right about now you are getting ready to tell me about how he exploits women with his advertising, and is vulgar and a borderline pornographer and yadda yadda yadda.
It’s all bullshit, you know, but I worry about the children growing up thinking this is true.
It was only 13 years ago that he was a total messiah.
I was an 11 year old 7th grader in 1996 when Tom Ford’s second collection for Gucci came out. I became insanely obsessed with the bright colors and prints he had used for the spring collection. I found a lime green marble print short sleeved polyester button-down shirt at the mall that reminded me of the looks he showed, and so I wore it every chance I got (much to the chagrin of my mom who absolutely HATED the shirt. And yes, I still have it). I thought everything about this ad campaign was on another level of womanity entirely. They were creatures in repose wearing amazingly bright eye makeup and clashing patterns and unbuttoning their shirts down to there in a way that I knew required special skills to pull off. It was the kind of girl I wanted to be when I grew up. From then on, it was a full on affair. He did many more collections that made me weak at the knees, and when he started working at YSL everything went even crazier, but I’ll always come back to this collection. You know, like how you have that record that you first became obsessed with and it changed your life forever and although now no one thinks it’s a big deal, but you’re like NO WAY MAN! who cares what he does now? he’s a genius! and everyone just stares at you like you are crazy. That’s how I feel about Tom Ford.
And the kids need to know about this.
i’m so glad you wrote this! due to being my age i never even explored Tom Ford’s fashion past because I always assumed it was filled with naked women and trashy clothes. i really love the Gucci ad, and thanks to you maybe i can appreciate Tom Ford now!
Comment by hazel — August 25, 2009 @ 6:59 am