Tom Ford "doesn't feel well" in knitwear.
Tom Ford
Despite his eponymous brand selling vast quantities of knitted garments, the 59-year-old designer has admitted he doesn't like wearing softer materials, like sweatpants, because they make him feel "too vulnerable".
Asked if he has a "lockdown uniform" and if it's a three-piece suit, Ford told The Times newspaper, he said: “I have. I don’t find them particularly flattering. Knitwear is a big part of my collection and has sold really well throughout this pandemic. I don’t feel well in knitwear, it’s a little too soft for me. I feel better in something a bit harder. I feel too vulnerable in sweatpants.”
Elsewhere, Ford opened up about losing his father Thomas in March, and how he didn't cry until he had to phone up his staff to let them know they would have to be furloughed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
He said of his parent's death at the age of 88: “I was and still am deeply sad, but I didn’t cry until I had to get on the phone and give a talk to everyone in the company to let a lot of them know they were going to have to be furloughed.
“I burst into tears. That part has been incredibly hard. And I’m one of the lucky ones. It has been so hard on so many people. Everyone has had to look inward, evaluate their lives and reassess what’s important.”
Ford - who has eight-year-old son Jack with husband Richard Buckley - admitted it has been a tough time as he opened up about how his business has adapted to survive during the global health crisis, including testing everyone before fittings.
He said: "I’ve had to furlough and let so many people go. It has been brutal. As a non-essential business I’m not allowed to work in my office. I’m not allowed to have an atelier. Our sewing people are sewing from home. When the clothes are ready we set up a tent in our parking lot, because we have to be outside. We have a nurse on site who tests everyone before we even have the fittings. And it has not let up."
Fortunately, Ford has been able to spend more time with his son and came to realise that he doesn't need to be at red carpet events, which he hates attending.
On the positives, he said: "Jack has only seen another child three times in the past eight months. But I get to see him all the time. We have lunch together every day. So there are great things too. I’ve learnt that, as a company, we don’t need to travel quite as much as we did. I don’t have to go to any of these social red carpet events. Personally I hate them.”
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