Tom Ford: Oscars fashion is "a bubble of 1950s Barbie clothes"

Fashion


Tom Ford: Oscars fashion is "a bubble of 1950s Barbie clothes"

By Stylist Team

11 years ago

Oscars red carpet is a golden opportunity for designers to showcase their work, but Tom Ford isn't a fan.

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, the dashing designer admitted he "doesn't love" red carpet fashion, describing it "a bubble of 1950s Barbie clothes."

"When you are dressing an actress, you are really working with someone and fulfilling their dream, their agent's dream, their husband's dream," he said. "They have a preconceived notion of what they want to wear, what they want to look like, how they are marketing this film, and you really making something for them that isn’t particularly creative."

Ford typically dresses just one actress per awards show (including Gwyneth Paltrow's classic white cape gown at the 2012 Oscars, left), although other stars may purchase a piece from his collection to wear independently of that.

He told Jimmy Kimmel that he liked to be "a voice of contemporary culture" in the way that he designs collections but that the process of creating dresses for the Oscars (and other awards shows) does not allow for that.

In the interview, Ford also explained how he dealt with the situation of one of his employees being badly dressed.

"I don’t mention it to them directly," he said. "I mention it to somebody, who mentions it to them. It’s like good cop, bad cop. You have to be nice and supportive."

He added that his greatest skill was having a commercial eye. "I have a very commercial sense," he said. "I can look at 12 pairs of shoes. I can say that pair, and that’s usually the one that will sell."

Take a look at the interview, below.

Photos: Rex Features

Share this article

undefined

By signing up you agree to occasionally receive offers and promotions from Stylist. Newsletters may contain online ads and content funded by carefully selected partners. Don’t worry, we’ll never share or sell your data. You can opt-out at any time. For more information read Stylist’s Privacy Policy

Thank you!

You’re now subscribed to all our newsletters. You can manage your subscriptions at any time from an email or from a MyStylist account.