Gucci turned 100. Let's talk about Tom Ford.
If you worked in advertising in the late 90s and early 2000s, you remember that fashion editorials were a constant source of inspiration. Many ad campaigns weren't only inspired by Harper's Bazaar, British and Italian Vogue fashion editorials; they were literally lifted directly from the pages of these magazines. As a result, fashion aesthetics and lexicon leaped from magazines and exclusive sartorial circles to the mainstream. Together with the invention of MTV, fashion aesthetics solidified the contemporary symbiotic relationship between fashion, rock'n roll, and pop culture.
Since the late 80s, magazines have been creating a lot of excitement among creative people. I remember waiting anxiously for the arrival of the newest issue of Vogue Italy, Visionaire, and Rolling Stones. In the '80s and 90's graphic designers and art directors like David Carlson, Neville Brody, Fabien Baron, and Fred Woodward inspired a new creative generation. Together with photographers, editors, and stylists, they were developing a new visual language.
Many names led this aesthetic shift: Testino, Rankin, Demarchelier, Roversi, Lindeberg, Hits, Meisel, Baron, Franca Sozzani, Grace Coddington, Andre Leon, Carlyne Cerf, Carine Roitfeld, just to name a few. However, if they were many talents, there was only one Creative Director: Tom Ford.
One of my favorite Tom Ford’s legends tells about a key moment in the relatively unknown American designer tenure as Gucci's Creative Director. Upon finding out that the Italian luxury brand was going bankrupt, he realized that the brand had no choice but to put out whatever collection he designed. So he fearlessly went for it and brought his updated vision for the Gucci brand to the catwalk. Later Ford told NBC he saw an opportunity to do what he thought was right for fashion and what he believed consumers wanted at that moment. The rest is history.
Until Ford, what made fashion designers great was primarily their talent and skills in creating clothing and accessories. Although heavily influenced by predecessors like Halston, Ford believes that "many designers have much greater talent as a designer than I do, but they may not have my drive." Indeed, he was driven, but more than this, he had a vision. Ford understood that his talent went far beyond his lack of extensive fashion education, sketching, tailoring skills, or even experience. His most remarkable talent was having a clear vision of how Gucci consumers should experience the brand and creating a narrative to enhance it. He also had a keen eye on casting a team of collaborators with a suitable skill set to help him to develop his vision. So there it is! The essential quality of a contemporary Creative Director.
A great observer of culture and always a storyteller, Tom Ford partnered with photographers, editors, models, celebrities, and stylists to create Gucci's narrative and image. So naturally, advertising played a crucial role in building this narrative.
Since the 60s, fashion took inspiration from what was going on the streets – think Carnaby street. Oliviero Toscani's United Colors of Benetton, Calvin Klein and Levi's campaigns started the shift. At that time, British and Italian Vogue were creating provocative editorials establishing a conversation with current culture. Still, Benetton and CK were among the first big brands to launch ad campaigns that tapped on what was going on in the world at the moment. They took fashion to the mainstream, but Ford would take it to another level. Today brands look to create a consistent narrative that flows seamlessly among each touchpoint; Ford was a trendsetter in creating the playbook followed by every brand today.
In 1997, collaborating with Testino and Carine Roitfeld, Gucci launched a new ad campaign that brought the 'sex sells' tactic to new heights. Making advertising campaigns became more exciting than editorials, Ford's years at Gucci are strongly associated with provocation. He turned fashion advertising campaigns into narratives that enticed the audiences showing each ad almost as an episode on a storyline. What made Ford a great Creative director was his storytelling approach to fashion. Fashion always relied on leitmotifs to inspire designers to create a collection. Still, Ford took it to outside the atelier expanding it into a brand’s narrative.
Back then, the internet was still in its infancy, and social media was unimaginable. For most people,images were not seen immediately from the runway and the first looks of a collection would be the advertisements in a big book, like in Vogue's September issue.
Gucci's 1997 campaign portrayed glamorous and gorgeous models in sleek, sexy settings telling a provocative story of sex as if it was captured by surveillance camera lenses. The campaign was perfectly tuned in to the 90's zeitgeist– a moment when people were ready to leave behind the depressing grunge era to embrace glamour, sexual freedom, and excess again. Then, in a curious twist of synchronicity and parallel with pop culture, George Michael was arrested in LA for lewd public conduct one year later. The arrest led him to release Outside. The music video used the same surveillance camera aesthetic combined with provocative sex scenes that produced a snapshot of the cultural tensions of the end of the millennium.
After leaving Gucci and taking over YSL, he launched his own eponymous fashion brand. Then, in 2009, he debuted as a movie director. His first film, A Single Man, collected raving reviews and established Ford as a talented director.
A storyteller and a meticulous esthete, Ford defined the role of the contemporary creative director. On Ford's playbook, a creative director role is all about a vision and craft. The craft can be trusted to an essential cast of highly skilled collaborators, but having a vision defines a creative director.