Tom Ford is the kind of guy that I imagine would have his lawn cut with nail clippers, if he could. It's not that I don't like the guy. In fact, I can't think of anyone who has a keener grip on the role of the fashion designer in society. I know, I know, I'm making it sound a little high-faluttin'. It kind of is, but it kind of isn't. Especially when you hear him talk about how a good designer is just really someone who knows how to translate popular culture and the pulse of the times into clothing. Or at least that's what I remember him saying in one of the best episodes of the Iconoclast series on the Sundance Channel. Who was he paired with on the show? None other than pop art pioneer Jeff Koons.
That said, I know that beneath his meticulously manicured veneer, there's a brash bohemian just waiting to burst out of his made-to-measure French cuffed shirt. What else could explain his obsession with patchouli? Remember when he redesigned a bottle for Estee Lauder's Youth Dew which, incidentally, used to be one of my favorite scents as an angstful teen. Who am I kidding here? Heck, I wore that perfume to death into my early twenties.
And now, he's coming out with his own scent for women: White Patchouli. I have to admit I almost had a chuckle when I saw that he chose a very black Erykah Badu as the face to launch the scent. I mean, did he mean something by that? But then again, she is pretty crazy funky cool. And besides belting out a tune like no one's business, doesn't she look divine in this shot? No better face, really, than a woman as hip as headscarf brandishing Erykah Badu to sell you on wearing patchouli, right?
Now if I could just stop picturing Tom in some wacky dashiki tunic, swaying his hips to "Black in the Day Puff".
1 comment:
There are only a few comments (made by fashion designers) that have stuck with me. Ford said a few times his job as a designer was to make items that people had to have. (paraphrasing)
I like this statement.
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