Tom Ford

The Library Essay

Gucci Was Nearly Bankrupt When He Arrived

When Tom Ford became creative director of Gucci in 1994 the house was close to failure, its name cheapened by licensing; within a few seasons his velvet suits, satin shirts and frankly sexual advertising had made it the defining label of the decade, and revenues multiplied many times over. Given Yves Saint Laurent's ready-to-wear as well after 1999, Ford ran the two most watched studios in fashion at once, until his departure in 2004.

This Rizzoli volume, produced with the fashion journalist Bridget Foley in that departure year, is the record of the run, campaigns, runway work and the exacting art direction Ford applied to every surface of the brand. It set the standard by which designer monographs have been measured since, as its subject tended to do.