Tom Ford knows his strengths, and for Spring 2019, he went to back to his signature seductive glamour — sky high heels, lingerie lace, leather and 80s power suits. The collection felt like a complete about face for Ford, whose runway shows have been deliriously over-the-top for the past few seasons, including his Fall 2018 venture into athleisure, and assorted “pussy power” accessories and shoes. Instead what we got was classic Tom Ford oozing sex appeal, sensuality and above all luxury.
There were power skirt suits accented with corsets, lacy lingerie tops, and satin smoking jackets. His ultra-lean silhouettes rendered in satin, jersey, and chiffon were paired with structured menswear-inspired jackets that played to a hard-soft dichotomy. “A hard jacket grounds you; it takes the vulnerability out of soft clothes,” says Ford. Most of the women’s looks came in black, white, or neutral shades of blush pink, nude, peach and lavender. “Given the harshness of the world, a softer color palette seemed right to me this season” said the designer. To offset the softness, there were of course the hard edges of shiny black leather jackets, faux crocodile coats, belts and bags, pointy high heels and giant black sunglasses.
Interspersed among the women’s were Tom Ford’s men in slick, sumptuous evening wear wearing bomber jackets, razor sharp suits and must-have trench coats. Tom Ford’s man is perpetually decked out in silk dinner jackets, including a silver peaked-lapel tuxedo and a rose gold lamé shawl-collar dinner jacket among an array of pale tone-on-tone ensembles. Ford’s clothes managed to avoid all the gimmickry and affected casualness that has plagued the current state of fashion, illustrating he still has just what the rich and famous want when dressing for a fancy occasion. One thing is clear, Tom Ford remains the epitome of cool, calculated seduction, exuding sex, glamour and above all luxury.
See All the Looks from the Collection
