Fashion news: Tom Ford’s new video
Leave it to Tom Ford to spark a blaze of fashion chatter. Ford has released the video for the first women’s collection under his own name – a spring 2011 show that happened in September but has gone mostly unreported until now, as per Ford’s wishes.
The event took place in his Madison Ave. menswear shop with an elite guest list and even more stellar cast of celebrity models. Beyoncé, Julianne Moore, Lauren Hutton and Marisa Berenson were among those strutting to “Pretty Babies” by Karen Elson, who also walked in the show.
The video, with its rapid cuts, severe crops and occasional soft focus, doesn’t put us too much farther ahead in getting to know the clothes. What we can glean is leopard spots, Saint Laurent-style tailoring, feathers and fringe. Like a deb who doesn’t put out on the first date, Ford has used this sure-to-be-viral web exercise to create enough mystery and desire to propel clients to his racks.
“It’s like he is saying, ‘here’s a little taste, and a little taste, and a little taste,’ ”observes Susie Sheffman, fashion director of FASHION Magazine. “It leaves you wanting more. It’s genius.”
Even the timing of the release, on a day when people are crawling back to their desks and craving a breath of fresh 2011 air, is strategic brilliance.
