Tom Ford

Thomas Carlyle Ford (born 27 August 1961) grew up in the suburbs of Austin and Houston before his family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he attended St. Michael's High School and later Santa Fe Preparatory. At sixteen he briefly enrolled at Bard College at Simon's Rock before dropping out and moving to New York City to study art history at NYU, only to abandon academia for a stint in television commercials. He eventually found his footing at The New School’s Parsons division, graduating with a degree in architecture while interning at Chloé’s press office in Paris – an experience that sparked his fascination with fashion. After a two‑year apprenticeship with Cathy Hardwick and a brief period at Perry Ellis, Ford accepted a daring invitation from Dawn Mello to become Gucci’s chief women’s ready‑to‑wear designer in 1990, relocating to Milan. Within months he was overseeing menswear, shoes, fragrances, advertising, and store design, and by 1994 he was promoted to Creative Director, reviving the near‑bankrupt house with sleek, sensual collections that doubled sales and transformed Gucci into a $4 billion global powerhouse. Simultaneously, he took the helm at Yves Saint‑Laurent in 1999, injecting contemporary energy while courting controversy with provocative ad campaigns for Opium and M7.