Tom Ford was born in Austin, Texas, but spent most of his childhood in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As a teenager, Ford moved to New York City and enrolled at New York University, initially to study art history. He later changed course to study architecture at Parsons School of Design in New York and Paris, and completed his training in New York.
In 1990, Tom Ford moved to Milan where he joined Gucci as the designer of women's ready-to-wear. In 1992, he became Artistic Director and was appointed Creative Director of Gucci in 1994.
He resigned from his position at Gucci after the brand was acquired by the Pinault Printemps Redoute group. He announced the creation of his own brand, TOM FORD, in 2005, and very quickly his alliance with Estée Lauder to create the TOM FORD BEAUTY brand. The collaboration unfolded in two phases, and it was during the second phase that Tom Ford and Estée Lauder developed a line of fragrances and beauty products under their own name, TOM FORD BEAUTY.
The line was launched in November 2006 with a fragrance called TOM FORD BLACK ORCHID, followed by TOM FORD BLACK ORCHID VOILE DE FLEUR. TOM FOR MEN, Tom Ford's first men's fragrance, was launched in September 2007.
