Fashion

Tom Ford Opens Up On His Designs

by Ally Batista
Stocksy

Whether you’re a big fan of his designs or not, there’s no denying that Tom Ford is a genius. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to create wearable art, and it’s most certainly a fact that not everyone can do it.

Tom Ford is a particularly interesting designer. He often draws inspiration from unique inspiration points. For example, Tom Ford’s 1980’s-esque “cross-cultural multi-ethnic” fall collection was inspired by Rihanna.

“Whenever I’m working on a collection, everything does have to be real, and those outfits are real to me. If I think, ‘OK, who is wearing this and where is she going?’” said Tom Ford to WWD.

Because Tom Ford designs his clothing based off of the inspiration of people who are primarily in the limelight, it’s a known fact that the masses then crave his designs. At high price points, however, very few American women can afford such a luxury as Tom Ford.

This in turn leads to fast fashion companies replicating his designs. Zara is known to quickly take Tom Ford runway looks and produce them months before you will see actual Tom Ford designs in department stores such as Barney’s or Saks Fifth Avenue.

“A lot of the things I did-it’s not going to sound anything but egotistical-if I’m lucky and I did the right thing, they will be at Zara way before I can get them in the store, and I don’t like that.”

Zara is of course not legally allowed to sell a line for line copy of any designer’s designs, but it’s not secret that fast fashion companies draw their inspiration from high-fashion designers. Is this wrong?

Everyone needs to draw inspiration from something. As long as it’s exactly similar, or carrying the name of the designer, I personally don’t think it’s that much of an issue. What do you think?

Ally Batista | Elite.

Twitter: @allybatista

Photo Credit: Getty Images