RENAISSANCE MAN

Glossy. Gorgeous. Lush. Candid. Sexy. A perpetual party where everyone looks good, smells good and is happy. And maybe sometimes high. This is Tom Ford 002 , which at first flick is a feel-good reflection of fashion life before the pandemic: the humming sensuality and outright glamour, where anything was possible. Remember that? But then, this book is also a confessional.

Tom Ford 002 covers the turbulent years since the polymath left Gucci Group and Yves Saint Laurent in 2004 – where not only was he creative director and designer of both brands, producing 16 collections a year, but vice chairman of Gucci Group and a key player in acquisitions such as Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta. The book charts everything since, from the launch of his namesake brand in 2005, to his critically acclaimed feature films right up until 2021.

As it turns out, the particularly personal foreword by his good friend Anna Wintour and introduction by Graydon Carter are merely (great) foreplay. It is the book’s 23-page interview by journalist Bridget Foley that is the most revealing. It is everything