Mister Ford how I love thee! Old fashioned but leading the times! Genius!
Last week saw Tom Ford's first women's show in six years at New York Fashion Week and despite the enormity of this there was one, yes only one, photographer permitted to use his camera. Why? Because Ford believes that fashion has become over exposed in recent years. Why? Partly due to advances in internet technology. If everything is instant then there's less excitement. The anticipation is eliminated; there's no wishing and waiting and wondering, it's just wham bam thank you maam. Instant gratification doensn't necessarily ensure a sense of satisfaction, or happiness at that. Imagine you've just written your letter to Santa and walked down the road to put it in the postbox. Arriving home again you open the back door to find your kitchen full of the things you just asked for. Wow! Amazing! You take everything out, you look at it, you play with it, you try it on, isn't it all so great!? Then you put it away and it's sort of all over and done with, largely forgotten about a week later...
I admire Ford for stepping aside from the current rush toward feeding live runway collections to be broadcast in real time online. I don't believe he is running the risk of becoming quickly out dated in this world of high speed communication because there's a romantic element to preserving the mysteries of beauty, and there's little more essential to the concept of fashion than the notion of beauty.
His collection will eventually be available to view online in December before appearing in shops from late January, a course emphasising the rememberance of the word worth when saying it will be worth the wait. Another possible message to take from his show was from the models he chose. Not size zero high fashion catwalk girls but a range of seductive women who emanate style, character and personality, by whom he was inspired and for whom each garment was individually tailored. Not just a pretty faced clothes horses walking up and down representing the transient nature of the industry of our time, but all rounded women asserting the glamour of time.
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