Tom Ford

Tom Ford launched his namesake label in 2005 in New York, after a decade-long run reshaping Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. The brand opened strictly as an eyewear and beauty arm, partnering with Marcolin on frames and Estée Lauder on fragrance and cosmetics.

Black Orchid followed in 2006 as the first standalone fragrance. Marketed to women but quickly hijacked by men for its dark, earthy profile, it set the template for a house that would blur gender lines in grooming from the start. The Private Blend collection arrived in 2007, with Tobacco Vanille, Oud Wood, and later Tuscan Leather becoming cult signatures in men’s fragrance.

Menswear arrived in April 2007, when Ford opened a made-to-measure operation out of a Madison Avenue flagship before expanding to ready-to-wear. The proposition was a return to a kind of glamour that had thinned out in American fashion. Early press settled on a single descriptor for what Ford was doing. Sex. The label was widely framed as the most overtly sensual house operating in menswear at the time.

The design language settled into wide peak lapels, suppressed waists, high armholes, and shirts cut with a long point collar fastened by a thick Windsor knot. Evening wear ran through shawl-collar dinner jackets in midnight blue, often in mohair blends. Daywear pulled toward Western shoulders, three-piece flannels, and velvet.

The house sat in conversation with Brioni and Kiton on craft, and with Hedi Slimane’s Dior Homme on cultural temperature, dressing Daniel Craig across the Bond films from Quantum of Solace onward. Ford was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the CFDA in 2015, and served as CFDA Chairman from 2019 to 2022.

The company grew across fragrance, beauty, eyewear, and accessories, with the beauty business becoming the commercial engine. In 2022, Estée Lauder acquired Tom Ford for roughly 2.8 billion dollars, the largest deal in the company’s history. The fashion and accessories side was licensed to Ermenegildo Zegna and eyewear to Marcolin.

Ford stepped down as creative director in 2023, and Peter Hawkings, a longtime member of his menswear team, took over. Haider Ackermann was announced as his successor in September 2024, with a debut collection arriving in March 2025 during Paris Fashion Week.

The house now sits in a particular slot in menswear, dressing actors, musicians, and a finance-adjacent clientele who want tailoring with a Hollywood reference.