On September 12th, Tom Ford presented his SS 11 collection at his flagship men’s store on Madison Avenue. It had been six years since he last presented a women’s wear collection, during his Gucci years.
An elite group of invites (100) got to see the show. But it was rather a presentation: the designer introduced each of the models like this : “Ladies and Gentlemen. Miss …”. The only photographer present was Terry Richardson.
Some photos did leak from the event, or was it rather a meticulously planned strategy to build the hype:
As you can see, Ford’s choice of models is the most refreshing.
FIRST ROW: Abbey Lee Kershaw (23 years old), Amber Valletta (36), Anja Rubik (27), Beyoncé Knowles (29), Carolyn Murphy (37), Chanel Iman (21)
SECOND ROW: Daphne Guinness (43), Daria Werbowy (83), Du Juan (27), Edita Vilkeviciute (21), Emmanuelle Seigner (44), Farida Khelfa (48)
THIRD ROW: Freja Beha (23), Jac (16), Joan Smalls (22), Julia Restoin-Roitfeld (30), Julianne Moore (50), Karen Elson (31)
FOURTH FOW: Karlie Kloss (18), Padma Lakshmi (40), Lauren Hutton (67), Lisa Eisner (53), Liu Wen (22), Liya Kebede (32)
FIIFTH ROW: Lou Doillon (28), Marisa Berenson (63), Natalia Vodianova (28), Rachel Feinstein (39), Rinko Kikuchi (29), Rita Wilson (54)
SIXTH ROW: Stella Tennant (40), Victoria Fernandez
From BLACKBOOK: Ford isn’t only making a women’s wear comeback: he’s looking to change the industry’s habits altogether. In fact, he has four key policies with regard to the collection that defiantly challenge the immediacy and rapid-fire turnover of images and information the fashion industry has come to represent. There will be “No full-look photos to run alongside fashion reviews,” “No complete run-of-show anywhere on the Internet,” “No magazine coverage until January issues, to whet the consumer appetite for February deliveries,” and “No celebrities wearing the clothes until December,” [WWD].
his flagship men’s store in New York on Madison Avenue
