Tom Ford believes the "musical-chairs" at fashion houses is "dangerous".
Tom Ford
The 55-year-old designer is dismayed that contemporaries Riccardo Tisci and Nicolas Ghesquière are no longer at Givenchy and Balenciaga after invigorating the brands over more than a decade and he thinks fashion labels should keep their creative directors because they need consistency.
He explained to New York Magazine: "This whole musical-chairs thing that's going on now at brands I find so dangerous. I think Riccardo Tisci is brilliant, and he was doing a terrific job at Givenchy. I have no idea why he's gone. Nicolas Ghesquière was doing a great job at Balenciaga. When the customer identifies with a brand and then you flip the designer and a new one comes in, how does that brand have consistency over time? How does it mean something? And with the number of collections that we're expected to do now - before I show this one, I'm already working on that one - how is that supposed to work? It's crazy. Maybe people will start longing for something that is not as disposable, but I really don't know. I don't think anyone knows."
Tom also revealed that he is moving away from overtly sexual advertising for his products to more "sensual imagery" and he is calling for "equal-opportunity objectification" of men and women.
He explained: "The sex thing's a little bit old at this point. Been there, done that. I don't want to sound too businesslike here, but it's all about breaking through the clutter. The one word I hate right now is disruptive. It's all anyone uses: "Oh, it's so disruptive." Disruptive, disruptive! I guess it's just the new way of breaking through the clutter or creating something new, and I guess it's just a word, but of course I want to be it. You can't look like anyone else, and so I suppose I've been more romantic lately. More sensual than sexual because that's all quite easy at this point. I've done the G-spot. I've put the perfume there.
"I get the criticism, I see it in my press reports, all complaining about the objectification of women. I've objectified men just as much in my career, but you just cannot run those images. I put that perfume bottle between a woman's breasts, but I also put it between a guy's butt cheeks, but [few] would accept that because our culture is more comfortable with the objectification of women to sell products than it is with the objectification of men to sell products. I'm for equal-opportunity objectification."
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