It’s stated you possibly can’t purchase fashion. So, when a member of the ultra-rich is a discernible tastemaker, we’re all the time desirous to see the place they spend their fortunes.
For newly-minted billionaire Tom Ford, the style designer put his cash the place his mouth is by selecting up an abode in London’s Chelsea borough for an eye-watering AUD $150 million—the UK’s most costly residence deal this yr.
Certainly, the 63-year-old reportedly bought the property “nestled in a neighbourhood well-known for its stucco-fronted mansions” earlier this yr, in line with “folks accustomed to the matter who weren’t authorised to debate the transaction,” as Business of Fashion experiences.
With fellow savant Victoria Beckham close by within the ritzy Holland Park and Harry Styles, who wears Tom Ford Magnificence’s Tobacco Vanille perfume, a stone’s throw in Hampstead Heath, the road fashion capital of the world has elevated tenfold. One can solely think about the fashions at their native neighbourhood watch conferences.
This funding has been Ford’s first big-ticket merchandise since promoting his firm two years in the past. As you could recall, the previous Gucci artistic director bought his eponymous label to Estée Lauder Cos. at a valuation upwards of AUD $4 million. The wonder conglomerate has been manufacturing, advertising and promoting Ford’s self-titled cosmetics and perfume line in a licensing association since 2006, with BoF additionally acknowledging that the sale turned essential for the enormous as Tom Ford Magnificence was considered one of its “most profitable companies”.
As for the style division, BoF reported on the time of the sale that: “Ermenegildo Zegna Group has solid a long-term settlement with Estée Lauder that can see it proceed to make and promote the model’s menswear, plus ladies’s trend, equipment and underwear for the primary time.”
Ford remained the enterprise’ “artistic visionary” till the top of 2023. Peter Hawkings, Ford’s protégé and right-hand man who labored on the firm since its inception in 2005, was initially appointed as his successor earlier than stepping down in 2024 after lower than a yr on the helm and one season. Haider Ackermann has picked up the mantle in his place.
However for Ford, this ‘revolving door’, as trend commentators have referred to as the constant rotation of creative directors, is nothing however chatter now that he’s stepped again from the industry. Maybe he can invite Dries Van Noten over to his new pad and change tales…
