fashionologie

fashionologie — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:01:32 PST

>> Tom Ford's A Single Man Receives Three Golden Globe Nominations -When the Golden Globe nominations came out this morning, The September Issue and Valentino: The Last Emperor weren't included - there's no documentary award - but A Single Man did end up scoring in three categories. Tom Ford wasn't named himself, but Colin Firth is up for Best Actor in a Drama and Julianne Moore for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama (the score also received a nod) - so he'll assuredly be at the awards in support. And don't be surprised if Julianne shows up to the ceremony Jan. 17 in another Tom Ford custom dress. [Variety]

Tom Ford on Why He Takes His Own Photos

fashionologie — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:36:45 PST

>> With A Single Man opening in limited release this Friday, Dec. 11 - apparently Aline Weber has a cameo - Tom Ford has been on a serious press blitz this week. Monday, he had 20 television and 12 print interviews; last night, he appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon - video here; and this morning, it was appearances on Good Morning America and The Martha Stewart Show. But film promotion isn't the only thing on his mind - in the December/January 2010 issue of Interview, Ford explains why he's gone the Karl Lagerfeld route and started to photograph a lot of his advertising images himself:

Even in fashion, it’s become ridiculous - 60 people to take a still photograph. I’ve started taking my own because I got so sick of all of that. I work with my one photo assistant, and a model, and hair and makeup, and that’s it. And, you know, I worked a good bit with Helmut Newton and with Richard Avedon, and the other day with David Bailey. For that whole school of photographers, it’s always been one assistant, one key light, one camera, one backdrop. And these guys worked on film. No one works on film anymore. I don’t shoot on film: That’s the only reason I can be a photographer. »

Tom Ford Financed 'A Single Man' Himself

fashionologie — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:27:29 PST

>> Tom Ford apparently smells like vanilla and moves a certain way to highlight his best side -“I think of myself as a product," he told the New York Times. But that's not all he wants to be seen as:

“I had one friend whom I’ve known for 15 years who said, ‘I’ve always thought of you as a beautiful black lacquered box with a platinum handle from the 1920s, but I never knew there was anything inside the box.' I was, like, ‘You’ve been my friend, and you did not know there was anything more than the surface?’”

For instance, Ford financed his first film, all $7 million of it, himself. The subject matter of A Single Man made it hard for studio backing, and two investors he had a verbal agreement last year fled after the economic crash. His agents warned against funding the project himself, but Ford decided to do it anyway: he got complete creative control, something he highly values, out of the deal.

Tom Ford: Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge "Made My Life Such Misery"

fashionologie — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:58:25 PST

>> The relationship between Yves Saint Laurent, his business partner Pierre Berge, and his ready-to-wear successor Tom Ford was clearly a strained one. In 2004 as Ford was leaving the label, Saint Laurent said of Ford: "I think he has a lot of talent for, what do you call it, marketing. But he never showed interest in the archives." In between tales of his first sexual escapades and how he snuck his longtime partner Richard Buckley into A Single Man, Ford returns the favor in the December 2009-January 2010 issue of The Advocate:

“I don’t even remember much about my time at Yves Saint Laurent, though I do think some of my best collections were [there]-other than that black-and-white initial one. That one wasn’t very successful and wasn’t very good. But being at Yves Saint Laurent was such a negative experience for me even though the business boomed while I was there. Yves and his partner, Pierre Bergé, were so difficult and so evil and made my life such misery.

"Pierre and Yves were just evil" »

Tom Ford Officially Announces Plans to Design a Women's Collection as Early as Fall 2010

coutorture — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:31:02 PDT

It's official-Tom Ford announced in today's Women's Wear Daily he and longtime business partner, Domenico De Sole, are looking for financing to start a women's collection as earl as next fall. Although De Sole declined to discuss specific numbers, recent reports have estimated the duo needs at least 50 million to begin the new business.

Ford, who was in Tokyo to promote his film "A Single Man," sipped a Coke Zero during his interview with WWD and said, "I'm optimistic and this is something I plan on doing for the next 30 years of my life, so if I have to wait another six months or a year [to launch the collection], it's OK.

In the meantime, the designer/director is thinking about his next film-and planning to move production from Los Angeles to London where he can be closer to his design studio and jump easily back and forth between film editing and model fittings. [WWD]

fashionologie — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:35:58 PDT

>> Tom Ford Already Working on New Movie -Now that Tom Ford has A Single Man nicely squared away in a distribution deal with The Weinstein Company, he's already looking forward: although Ford's business partner Domenico De Sole declined comment on reports that they were looking for funding to launch a signature womenswear line, sources say the plan is to have the first collection for the Fall 2011 season. And he's already writing a new film project, "very different" from A Single Man: “I don’t want to talk about it yet. I want to live through the rest of this experience. I just finished editing two weeks ago, so it’s not out of my system yet.” [WWD, Times UK]

Tom Ford Supposedly Seeking Funding for Womenswear: Is Alessandra Facchinetti Involved?

fashionologie — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:42:22 PDT

>> It's just been a matter of time. The first murmurs of Tom Ford expanding into womenswear came way back in February, and today come reports that in the wake of his directorial debut A Single Man being picked up last week by The Weinstein Company (who will likely put it into play for the Oscars with a limited December release), Ford is seeking funding for a foray into a women's line.

The amount sought is to the tune of $50 million or more, according to a report from two unnamed sources by private equity site peHUB, and the search just began in the last two weeks. The original rumor from February had Alessandra Facchinetti, who was top womenswear designer under Ford at Gucci, heading up the new line for Ford; she still hasn't publicly popped up anywhere else, so it's still a possibility . . .

Tom Ford's A Single Man Premieres at Venice Film Festival - Watch the Movie Trailer

fashionologie — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:26:08 PDT

>> A Single Man, which Tom Ford directed, coproduced, cowrote and called "the most personal thing" he's ever done, premiered today at the Venice Film Festival. The first trailer for the movie - which features a cameo by Ford's favorite ad model, Jon Kortajarena, as hustler Carlos - has also hit YouTube: see below; the colors and work of Mad Men's production designer Dan Bishop, who filled the same role for A Single Man, is instantly recognizable, and apparently the show's star Jon Hamm does an uncredited voiceover in the film.

The movie is already receiving good reviews - the Times UK called it "a thing of heart-stopping beauty . . . There will be critics who will be unable to get past the director’s background, but rest assured: Tom Ford is the real deal." Variety's verdict: "Luminous and treasurable, despite its imperfections. An impressive helming debut for fashion designer Tom Ford."

And Ford himself is finally talking about the film: “People who don’t know me well will be very surprised by the film. It shows a different side of me." Despite Ford's fascination with sex in the fashion arena, the film contains no sex scenes.

He just finished editing A Single Man two weeks ago, and hopes this is the "the beginning of a parallel career alongside fashion," he tells WWD. "The process seems really natural to me, and I'd ideally like to make a film every three to four years." But he's trying to keep his two careers separate: "I didn’t want to be perceived as some fashion designer who’s come to Venice and decided to make a film . . . I wanted to avoid anything to do with fashion, and I wanted the film to speak for itself."

Video: the trailer! »

Tom Ford Still Being Secretive About A Single Man, Wants the Movie To Be Bought Based on Merit

fashionologie — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:54:43 PDT

>> Tom Ford's directorial debut A Single Man - and the first project from his newly-minted production company, Fade to Black - premieres in competition at the Venice Film Festival tomorrow; Variety notes that he's been super secretive of the movie those far, "forgoing interviews, press screenings and, perhaps most notable of all, advance sales."

Stuart Ford, who is handling the film's sales, says that interest is "huge," but they "made a decision not to do pre-sales, the principal reason being that we want the film's eventual distributor to make a decision based on the film itself, after seeing it. Even though Tom is an unproven quantity as a director, the film will play for itself - it's a high-class piece of filmmaking."

fashionologie — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:11:17 PDT

>> Tom Ford's A Single Man to Premiere Sept. 11 at Venice Film Festival -After much anticipation, Tom Ford's directorial debut, A Single Man, has received a big vote of confidence; it was chosen to compete at the Venice Film Festival, where it will simultaneously have its world premiere on Sept. 11. The film's costumes were done by Arianne Phillips and its production design by the same group that does Mad Men; Ford called the film's selection to the festival "a great honor." [WWD]