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I know we know him. But I need to to mention just a few reasons why he has to be my man. I have a feeling I will write about him more than once...

Tom Ford. The name alone conjures up those infamous images of lavishly oiled women with seductive red lips and the classic men’s fragrance perfectly placed to leave most men aflame with arousal. Or maybe it’s the eyewear, where the matt, nude body of Jon Kortajarena impels every woman to sneak a second glance. Or perhaps the stunning visuals crafted within A Single Man remain his most memorable milestone. Either way, the piercing stare, the synchronised stubble, the raised eyebrow and the bare chest of Mr. Ford bring individuality and bold originality to every aspect of his work.

Underneath the glamorisation and the highly sexual exterior of the Ford empire, rests a philosophy which beholds a remedy to the fashion industry. Initially, Ford’s preoccupation with nudity can remain distasteful for some; however it is clear that Ford seeks to express a refreshing vision of our bodies. Real bodies. Those which form symmetry, uniformity, individuality or grave humanity, he equates an equilibrium within his designs. Relieving a barrier of snobbery, signals of position or background through nudity, Ford illustrates an egalitarian belief, where in nudity remains the purity of a body, which is immeasurable and cannot be judged. This seems ironic coming from a man who invests time and care to create glamour and allure. However, he understands this dichotomy and recognises these needs to be relative and in proportion.

This difference is made clear within his dramatic introduction of his return to women’s fashion. Whilst most of the industry swamps the internet to bare their innards to induce credibility and popularity, Ford alleviates this virus and lets mythology accelerate to veil his S/S collection in secrecy until men and women across the globe swoon unto the grand exposition. What is important is that the S/S 2011 collection did not have a catwalk, did not use a plethora of models, did not have gaudy flashes from hulking groups of photographers. Instead, there was an intimate sharing, which seemed all the more valuable by the extent at which it was hidden from the public.

In a time of boundary pushing and battling orthodoxy and tradition, in all fashion’s refinement, sleek and slick acceleration to the future, Tom Ford has done something many seem to have forgotten how to. He has created his own myth. He has distanced himself from the growing pace of fashion to give value to information, to give value to timeless design and to give value to fashion outside of the sphere of immediate communication, immediate production and immediate distribution.

Creating a unison between fashion and it’s relentless push and humanity as one harmonious tone, Ford has reconciled many things lost. Harking back to a Golden Age of design in a noxious nostalgic way, Ford symbolizes fashion as both a business and a concept of human nature. Behind the name that makes camera lenses re-focus, that sells a million lacquered lip-sticks and in a haze of vetiver and white patchouli lies a man who shows a vision and belief which should make us all rather hot under the collar.