“The fashion system is driven by the consumer,” Tom Ford said in a conversation with Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times on Instagram Live.
Tom Ford, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) expressed doubt that anything would come of the whispers that clothing designers might shun pre-collections and design only two collections a year.
“We have trained the consumer to believe that there is something new every two months,” said the American fashion designer.
However, he stressed that fashion responsibly is on his mind.
Tom Ford, who went vegan a few years ago, congratulated Stella McCartney, his former partner at Gucci, for her early and ongoing commitment to sustainability. He also stressed that timelessness and quality are important aspects of sustainability.
“My clothes and what I design should not be thrown away,” she said. “When I left Gucci and YSL, I had to leave my files behind.” Since then, he said, he has been repurchasing the pieces at considerable cost.
Tom Ford believes that “nothing can replace a proper fashion show”.
“Fashion is about having a moment worth sharing on Instagram and it takes people and celebrities to make that happen. Live shows on a timeline are very efficient,” he said.
He also expressed the view that trends are created during conversations between attendees as they move from one fashion show to another.
“I hope the real fashion shows come back,” he said, adding that September looks promising.
He pointed out that he misses the “electric atmosphere” of live fashion shows, which cannot be captured on film. “It’s like the live experience of a theatre performance,” he explained.
Despite his passion for creativity, the fashion designer admitted that during the pandemic he was obsessively watching CNN or MSNBC.
“We have all felt some depression,” he says. “It’s hard to feel creative with all this turmoil,” he concluded.
