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MILAN,
Italy—It’s official: When James Bond returns for the
next installment of the 007 franchise in November, he’ll
be ditching the Brioni suits he’s worn for the last five
movies and taking up with Tom Ford.
Ford
confirmed the news during the recent men’s Fashion Week
as he was preparing to open his new five-story,
11,478-square-foot menswear store in Milan’s “Golden
Triangle” luxury shopping district.
“It’s a
terrific representation for us,” said Ford, against the
backdrop of the polished Macassar wood walls of his
made-to-measure suiting salon. “A lot of people think if
you wear conservative clothing your life is dull and
uninteresting. But James Bond is this character who is
sophisticated yet he sleeps with three girls at once and
[has a car] with parachutes coming out of it. His life
is very interesting, so I thought it was a good fit.”
It’s not too much of a leap, since Bond actor Daniel
Craig was one of the first celebrities Ford dressed in
his namesake men’s line launched last year, which has a
traditional, English bespoke feel.
Ford
first made a name for himself in the womenswear arena
during his tenure as creative director of Gucci and Yves
Saint Laurent. After his high-profile departure in 2004,
he took his rock-star status, dashing good looks and
creative energies elsewhere. He’s dabbled in publishing,
as guest editor for the 2006 Vanity Fair Hollywood issue
in which he appeared on the cover alongside Scarlett
Johansson and Keira Knightley (they were naked, he was
not) and Hollywood (the part-time LA resident said he
wants to direct), before launching fragrance and eyewear
collections in 2005.
He
opened his first menswear store on Madison Avenue in
April 2007. Since then, his Italian-made suits (which
start at $3,800 off the rack and $5,000 made-to-measure)
have been seen on A-listers such as Brad Pitt, who
recently showed up at the Cannes Film Festival in a Tom
Ford.
The
designer said he didn’t differentiate between the way he
dressed Bond on screen in Quantum of Solace and
the way he dresses the man who plays him. “Their tastes
are very similar,” Ford said. “Daniel knows himself
really well and he likes to keep it very, very, very,
very simple. For example, it’s hard to get him to wear
diamond studs with a tuxedo. He prefers buttons.”
Ford
worked with the film’s costume designer, Louise Frogley,
to create made-to-measure suits, shirts, knitwear, ties
and a Tom Ford take on the well-dressed British agent’s
signature tuxedo, in navy blue. “We made about 420
pieces for 11 costume changes,” Ford said. “For each
scene we made three suits that were perfect, three suits
that were bloodied and blown-up, three suits that were
bloodied, blown-up and had been in a pool—and then we
had to make most of those different permutations for the
stunt men as well.”
Ford
said the opportunity arose because Craig was already a
fan of his work—and apparently the feelings are mutual.
“He’s
the best Bond since Sean Connery. He’s a terrific guy to
dress and he’s pretty powerful with what he wears.” |
