Can Tom Ford, the brand, continue to exist without Tom Ford, the designer? Newly appointed creative director Peter Hawkings’ answer appears to be “no.”
Things must have come full circle for Hawkings on Thursday evening when he presented his first collection for Tom Ford in Milan. He, like Gucci’s debutant creative director Sabato De Sarno, is a Gucci veteran from the Ford era – a period that seems to have left a lasting impression on the newly appointed creative director, who is now following in his former mentor’s footsteps. His debut, best described as a time capsule back to Ford’s hedonistic days at the helm of the Italian fashion house, brought glamor and sex back to the runway.
Hawkings reminisces
Although Ford himself wasn’t present at his protégé’s first show for the brand after selling his eponymous label to Estee Lauder earlier this year, his spirit was ever-present. The references to the past weren’t exactly subtle, although they were turned on their head.
Floor-length jersey dresses with gold buckles reminiscent of Gucci’s fall 1996 collection swapped hip cutouts for plunging backs and turned white into black, while velvet pantsuits and silk shirts didn’t avoid immediate comparison to Ford’s fall 1995 collection leave, even if in one or two cases the pants became shorts.
Perhaps the most revolutionary part – especially for today’s fashion shows – was the fact that every look was guaranteed to feature sky-high stilettos and sunglasses, a favorite accessory of both Ford and Hawkings, as well as clutch bags and, in many cases, lots of gold ones Bracelets and necklaces were combined.
But that doesn’t mean that Hawking’s previous work, first as senior menswear designer at Gucci before moving to Ford, where he was instrumental in developing Tom Ford menswear, should be completely ignored. The men and women of the Ford universe have never seemed closer, borrowing velvet suits and crop shirts from each other’s closets with the nonchalance often associated with ’70s rock stars and their various muses.
The Gucci character may be coincidental, but it follows two Gucci shows created by the brand’s in-house design team and, in many ways, very reminiscent of Tom Ford. Many of the silhouettes in the last two collections were reminiscent of Tom Ford’s reign from 1994 to 2004, particularly the reissue of the Gucci Horsebit Chain bag, which was brought straight from the archives after it was once created by Ford for Fall/Winter 2003.
While Hawkings has proven he can pay tribute to the man whose label he took over, some questions remain about his own vision for the future of the brand and the success that comes with it. Much like Tom Ford once did at Gucci, Hawkings brought sex back into fashion last night – although whether sex still sells remains to be seen.
