Tom Ford to get Outstanding Achievement accolade at Fashion Awards

Fashion superstar Tom Ford is to receive the Outstanding Achievement Award at The Fashion Awards in December with the designer — who’s also a businessman and filmmaker — getting the accolade “for his incredible body of work”. 

The Awards take place on 2 December in London and organiser the British Fashion Council said he’s “a leading figure in the world of fashion and luxury and is renowned for his business acumen, impeccable tailoring and his daring designs”.

Ford joined Gucci as the chief womenswear designer in 1990 before becoming creative director in 1994. It’s hard to imagine now but Gucci wasn’t exactly a leading brand at the time.

However, along with its CEO and close collaborator Domenico De Sole, Ford “completely transformed and elevated Gucci and it became one of the largest and most profitable luxury brands”. Importantly too, it was also a major influencer on 1990s and noughties fashion. 

In 1999, Ford and De Sole created the Gucci Group that eventually evolved, post-Ford, into Kering. 

Ford was creative director and vice-chairman of the group and took on the creative direction of the Yves Saint Laurent brand as well as Gucci, producing collections for both labels that are still in high demand on resale market, constantly selling at eye-watering prices.

After leaving the group, he and De Sole launched the Tom Ford brand to major acclaim, building it into a fashion, accessories and beauty powerhouse that was eventually sold to Estée Lauder for $2.8 billion.

Alongside all this, he became an award-winning screenwriter, producer and film director and in 2009, he wrote, produced and directed the Academy Award nominated film A Single Man. Ford’s second film Nocturnal Animals in 2016 won the Grand Jury prize, three Golden Globe nominations (winning one), nine BAFTA nominations and an Academy Award nomination. 

He also served as chairman of the CFDA.

BFC chief Caroline Rush said: “For over three decades, his visionary work has consistently pushed the boundaries in every field he has played his hand in — from transforming Gucci into a fashion powerhouse and launching his incredibly successful eponymous brand while establishing the design studio in London, to becoming an award-winning filmmaker. He is a true innovator and fashion icon in his own right.”

And Ford himself added: “This award is incredibly special to me, as I have spent a great deal of my life in London. During my 35 years in the fashion world, I have focused on creativity and the love of beauty and style. Fashion and Film are both collaborative efforts. One has to have a vision and then to communicate that vision to a team of talented people, and I would like to acknowledge all of those people who have supported me along the way.”

Previous recipients of the Outstanding Achievement Award include Valentino Garavani, Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard, Giorgio Armani, Miuccia Prada, Ralph Lauren, Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Wintour, Terry and Tricia Jones and Manolo Blahnik, among others.