Tom Ford

Born in Texas in 1962, Tom Ford went on to become arguably the most influential designer of the last decade. Having initially trained as an actor, he studied interior architecture at Parsons School of Design until 1986, and went on to take positions at Perry Ellis and Cathy Hardwick, before joining Gucci in 1990.

Ford was hired by Gucci's then creative director Dawn Mello as chief women's ready-to-wear designer, and later appointed design director. When, in 1994, Gucci was acquired by a Bahrain-based investment firm called Investcorp, Ford was promoted to creative director and moved to Milan with his partner, journalist Richard Buckley.

In his first year at the helm, he was credited with putting the glamour back into fashion introducing Halston-style velvet hipsters, skinny satin shirts and car-finish metallic patent boots. In 1995, he brought in French stylist Carine Roitfeld and photographer Mario Testino to create a series of new, modern ad campaigns for the company. By 1999, the house, which had been almost bankrupt when Ford joined, was valued at about $4.3 billion. "We didn't even have a photocopier at one stage," he admits. "We didn't have any paper." In 2000, Ford was named Best International Designer at the first VH1/Vogue Awards in New York.

After Gucci bought a controlling stake in Yves Saint Laurent, Ford was appointed creative director of YSL, too, and communications director of the house's ready-to-wear business, while continuing to design for Gucci. A mighty challenge certainly, but Ford was adamant he could keep the two labels distinct. "Historically, [Gucci] is Sophia Loren. Yves Saint Laurent is Catherine Deneuve. They're both sexy," he told British Vogue in February 2001. "It's just that Gucci is a little more obvious than Saint Laurent. The YSL woman might tie her boyfriend up and drip hot wax on him before they have sex, for instance. The Gucci woman is just going to have sex."

Ford believes that he owes his success not to talent, but to his energy. He admits to sleeping just two or three hours per night, keeping post-it notes beside the bed in case he wakes up with an idea. "There are many more talented designers than me," he once told an audience at the V&A in London. "But I have a lot of drive and won't let it go." He also credits his "mainstream" appeal. "I'm lucky, I have mass-market tastes," he says. "When I say I like a shoe, generally thousands of people will like it. Thank God, because I would have been a very unhappy person if I hadn't had this kind of success."

But others see it quite differently, saying that Ford's secret is the combination of a fine commercial sensibility and a genuine feel for fashion: in his former role at Gucci, he designed shoes, watches, luggage and men's and womenswear as well as planning the company's advertising campaigns and overseeing the development of their two new fragrances, Envy and Rush.

Celebrity fans of Ford's style include Madonna, Bianca Jagger and Trudie Styler ("Well, he's perfect, isn't he? He's like Sting, he doesn't do small talk. He doesn't always give very much of himself, so you want more."). But Ford's ultimate sign of approval came from his mother, who was heard to demand her YSL discount card after watching his first runway show for the house.

In April 2004, Ford parted company with the Gucci group after he and CEO Domenico de Sole, who is credited as Ford's partner in the success story that is Gucci, failed to agree with PPR bosses over creative control of the Group. His final show for YSL was a celebrity-studded affair as fans, including fellow designers Diane Von Furstenberg, Valentino and Stella McCartney gathered to support and celebrate Ford's work.

Having made no secret of the fact that he didn't expect to be designing forever, Ford was rumoured to be making a beeline for Hollywood when his Gucci reign came to an end. Included on his list of lifetime to-dos are having children (although work commitments and his longtime partner Richard Buckley are currently conspiring against him) and making a film. "That is the ultimate design project," he says. "You don't just get to design what people wear, but you design the whole world and whether characters get to live or die. There is a permanence to film that fashion lacks."

Gucci, Via Don Lorenzo Perosi, Firenze, Italia 50018.

Tel: +39 55 759 21

Source: who's who, tom ford - Vogue.com
Other: Tom Ford website