Tom Ford Q&A

Come Saturday, the fashion crowd descends on Milan to see Men’s Spring Summer 09 collections and one name will be on everyone’s lips: Tom Ford. It’s been four long years since Mr Ford vacated the creative director position at Gucci but he’s returning to Milan in timely style to open his first retail store in Europe. Fashion notables will be given a walk around the five floor, 9,000 sq ft space at Via Verri 3, on Monday 23rd, in the middle of fashion week. But we couldn’t wait till then so quizzed the man himself a few days before to find out how he feels about returning to the city where he made his name...


We love your label for its unapologetic formality. Where does your passion for formal dressing come from?

Formality feels right to me right now. At a time when fashion is getting increasingly more casual and broken down, I think that 'dressing up' shows that the wearer has self-respect and respect for the people around him. Maybe it is also a reaction against all the trends out there in menswear at the moment. Formal is just how I want to dress right now.


What inspires you?

I am inspired by everything around me.


What does it mean for you to be opening a store of your own label, under your own name, in Milan particularly, given the success you had here under Gucci?

It is great to be doing something that is purely 100% my own taste, my own vision, my own creation from the ground up. It is also wonderful to be returning to Milan which is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is not only Italy’s fashion capital, but it is also the Italian home of luxury menswear.


Do you see a progression in your work as a designer?

The progression of my work as a designer very much follows the progression of myself as a person. As I grow older, I see myself and the world differently. I have different role models and different values. Authenticity has become increasingly important to me in my life and in my work.


What bespoke services are available in your Milan store?

We will offer the same made-to-measure services in all of our Tom Ford flagship stores. It is not a bespoke service from the ground up. We work off four different bases, we take your measurements, work out which base is right for you, modify it, send it to our factory, and when it comes back we have a sample room in the store where we can do dramatic alterations. When you go to a bespoke tailor, you can have almost anything made. When you come to us, you come for a certain Tom Ford look and then it’s modified. This is a hybrid that did not exist. We offer much more customization than you can get from any other design company. At the same time, it has more of a personal stamp than Savile Row.


This is your second flagship – how many more have you planned, where and when?

We will be opening directly operated Tom Ford flagship stores in Milan, London, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas over the next 2 years as well as free standing stores in Baku, Moscow, Dubai, and Puerto Banus which will total over 100 free-standing Tom Ford retail stores worldwide over the next 10 years. We have also just opened a shop this spring in Zurich, with shops in Daslu, Bergdorf's, Harry Rosen, Lane Crawford Hong Kong and Neiman Marcus to follow in September.


Is retail design more significant now than it was 10 years ago?

Retail design has always been significant in helping to define a brand and has become more important than ever as the entire luxury industry has become more homogenised. More than ever, the brand experience is, in part, determined by the retail space.


You’ve turned your hand to fashion, accessories, beauty and fragrance. Have you any plans to branch into homeware?

For the moment, we are focusing on the existing categories and have no plans to branch into homeware.


What single thing would improve the quality of your life?

More time.

Describe Tom Ford in three words.

Loyal, shy, perfectionist.

Norbert Wangen interview

K12 kitchen system by Norbert Wangen

German-born, Austrian-based Norbert Wangen is something of a maverick when it comes to problem solving. To say he revolutionised kitchen design with his K2 monoblock is no understatement and certainly not something we say lightly. So much so that when it was put into production by Boffi in 2004, we promptly awarded Wangen Product Designer of the Year in our 2005 Design Awards. Last year he plunged into bathroom design, launching the L10 Carrara marble basin at Salone and subsequently claimed second place in our Best Domestic Appliance at the 2008 Wallpaper* Design Awards. Jetting in to celebrate Boffi Chelsea’s opening, we took some time out with Mr Wangen to chat about drama, kitchens and a touch of philosophy...



What do you make of the store?
It’s wonderful. It’s very unexpected in scale for London.

I like that you can see the raw elements of the structure, it fits nicely with the cleanliness of the products on display.
I like the dark colours particularly, which make a nice contrast to the materials. It’s very theatrical and dramatic – the products are like spotlit actors standing on a pitch black stage.

Do you think your architectural training is at the heart of your ability to create such a revolutionary kitchen design as the K2?
I also trained as a carpenter and later studied philosophy and did set designs for theatres so in the end it’s a wide range of influences that come together to provide solutions – a synthesis of all these aspects.

When did kitchens first become the focus of your attention?
It was through an architecture project I was doing in Munich in 1994 for an actor friend of mine. It was a complicated project - it was a studio with a small living room and a mini kitchen – so we decided to put the whole kitchen into a block close to the corridor. We then took catalogue photos of the kitchen in the loft and the effect was completely different; it looked like it had been designed so specifically for the loft. It just worked on so many levels.

So it was an element of luck really that you discovered a talent in this field?
In 1994 the kitchen industry was only interested in new handles. Everybody was happy with wooden boxes and all the designers had to play with were the handles. We were lucky in many ways to have the opportunity to create an entirely new concept. Wallpaper* was young then too.

We started in 1996.
Around that time I presented the cube in Cologne at the furniture fair and someone came from Wallpaper* and we swapped ideas about new concepts of design back then.

So we’ve grown together.
Indeed, you’ve always been very good to me too, so thank you.

How did people react to what was a very radical kitchen design given how little kitchens had changed in the previous few decades?
People were slow to accept in 1998 that the sliding top of the K2 was anything more than a gimmick. Then in 2001 we came out with some good photographs and a more professional presentation and gradually things started to grow.

It’s amazing what a good picture can do. And when did Boffi enter the equation?
Well as they say in Britain, if you can’t beat them join them. Boffi is the finest kitchen and bathroom manufacturer with a history and a global reach that a new company like mine could never touch. I wanted to return to the creative side and step away from the business elements of establishing my own company. Joining Boffi allowed me to do this. They are true professionals in their handling and also their wonderful spaces provide a perfect backdrop to frame the products. I love Piero Lissoni as well, he’s a truly gifted Creative Director – look around here - it’s like being in a theatre.


K14, Wangen's latest incranation of the sliding top kitchen

Do people want different things from their kitchens today or are people just more open-minded about experimenting with domestic fittings?
Today the kitchen is a social place where people meet. I find often when women cook they don’t like you to see what’s being done, they want to hide the mess and the dirt straight away. Men are very much about performance in cooking. So I think the kitchen has to be a stage and somewhere where everything can be hidden and cleaned almost instantly. But also I think people don’t like their kitchens to look like a kitchen nowadays. If you look at the K16, from the other side it looks like a piece of furniture. It must be professional functionally but also incredibly simple. I think in our design language we could call it minimalism.

Where can kitchen design go from here? How difficult would it be to revolutionise kitchen design again?
I think the kitchen hood will disappear – they’re the last thing that really make a kitchen look like a kitchen. In one hand we’re living in a fast time but at the same time everything is also getting slow. Communication and technology are of course moving very rapidly but there’s a lot of industry and manufacturing that is very slow. I think with kitchens the next decade will be slow. We’ve found solutions that make sense, there’s very little more we can do.

I just wonder if there will be a return to times when we don’t feel the need to hide functions and aesthetically homogenise everything - so a phone will look like a phone, a kitchen like a kitchen and so on?
This is an interesting point. I think it’s an expression of our time isn’t it? We are in the beginning of an epoch really – our level of communication is still relatively recent and our attachments, needs and expectations from design are still very much informed by the developments of technology and communication. I can’t see these things changing in the next few decades. Our current environment creates a lot of problems: there’s too much information, everything is too abstract. If we take a step back then I feel everything will collapse. It’s a radical truth but it’s very interesting. These designs are an expression of our times – a synthesis of very complex realities.

So your reputation as the king of kitchen design will be safe for some time then?
I hope so. No, maybe you should ask someone else! I’m satisfied with what I’m seeing...

OUT interview:Mika's Second Verse (Same As The First?)

The international sensation on his post-breakthrough, post-radio, post-Out life.

Shana Naomi Krochmal

When pop singer Mika, 24, appeared on Out’s cover last July [Pop's New Queen], he firmly declared, “I’m not willing to label myself.” His consistent not-quite no comment continues to ruffle the feathers of out and proud queers -- and, of course, rile up his staunchest defenders.

He recently checked in with Out from London, updating us on his whirlwind year, his most obscure and infamous inspirations, and just exactly what he thinks of the folks who say he’s hiding in plain sight.

Out: In 2007, you played at Coachella, won three World Music Awards and were nominated for a Grammy. What was the highlight?

Mika: Being able to pay my bills? [Laughs] No. I’m kidding. Everyone always wants me to say the big stuff, the huge festivals and performances. But it was just being given an insight into how to do things. A profession you’ve always wanted to do your entire life finally becomes real, and you have to make the most of it.

Are you going to the Grammys?

I don’t know. I’m more concerned with my own show the day after in Los Angeles. The nomination is quite an honor -- yet award ceremonies are always a little bit of a meat market, aren’t they? I like the nomination more than anything. I think if I was performing it’d be different because I’d have a purpose. We’ll see.

What’s going to be different about this tour?

Unfortunately, I can’t bring the same show all over the States. In L.A. and New York and some of the Canadian shows where we’re doing 10,000 seaters, we’ve got the full show. But because we’re playing clubs down to 1,500 people, we can’t physically fit [everything] into the venues. For the bigger shows, it is a lot closer to this total gig vision that I’ve got. We work with an 18-foot puppet, a snow machine, stuff like that. It’s fantasy. As long as it’s all based around a good set of songs and a good set of performances, it’s important to create magic and stretch the world.

How do you describe your ideal vision for a show?

I’ve been to a lot of arena gigs, and some are very disappointing because they rely too much on a big bunch of screens. There’s a disadvantage being 9,000 people away from the performer, and it’s that he’s quite small. But there is also an advantage to that, because you can create illusions that you never could within a small club, a sense of scale and magic. In the next two years when I’m developing my big shows, especially in Europe and Canada and in Asia, I’m looking forward to creating this virtually delicious show that happens all over at different stages of the arena -- so you never feel like you’re far away whether you’re in the third row or the 300th row.

Whose big arena shows do you like the best?

I think that the Madonna concerts are really entertaining. It’s not like going to a Led Zeppelin gig, but it’s still kind of a visual feat. Prince -- he’s the master, and that relies mostly on music too, the tightness of the band, the tightness of his performance. And also there’s that whole Cirque du Soleil thing, you know? When you see some of those shows, you’re literally sitting there scratching your head, wondering how the hell they’ve managed to create that visual effect.

Who has inspired your music and the way that you perform?

I always go on about Harry Nilsson. He’s just this victim of his own profession, very underrated. He’s so talented, undeniably so, both as a writer and as a singer -- but just not quite fashionable enough to be famous as a household name. And ironically enough, he was the favorite songwriter of the Beatles for most of their career, both Lennon and McCartney, and very good friends with them as well. And I love Prince, because he’s a musical genius and he’s the opposite end of the spectrum. Whereas Harry Nilsson was introspective and fragile, Prince is a superstar and kind of the short man who kind of dominates the arena.

You’ve sold nearly 5 million records worldwide, and yet such a small percentage of that is in the U.S. Are you frustrated about not being a household name here?

No. I mean, it’s a mixture. I think the U.S. takes time. If someone asks me, “Have you reached the climax of your success in the U.S.?” I would immediately say, “100 percent no.” Is my career growing in the U.S. steadily? Yes. Is it growing as fast as it is in other countries? Maybe not. But when I put my tickets on sale, my tours sell out -- and I’m on my third U.S. tour. The fact that I’m doing so well in Canada is a good reflection that the American market isn’t really that alien to me. My gigs in America are pretty intense. It’s not as if I’m going and getting disappointed. What confuses me is that my gigs are pretty mental, yet I just can’t get the radio support.

Why do you think that is?

It’s very simple. I didn’t get radio support in the States with “Grace Kelly,” even though it was number one in most territories around the world, probably in the top two or three songs in the world by radio play in every single country. I heard from a [U.S.] radio station a couple of months ago, and the programmer’s excuse was, “It’s because he says he wants to be like a woman. He has the line where he says he wants to be like Grace Kelly, and we just don’t feel comfortable with this song.” And then when it got to “Love Today,” and we tried to get radio to play it they said, “Impossible -- it’s a man singing in the vocal range of the woman.” It’s kind of depressing, really. It’s just confusing. But I see the humor of it. Far more people are listening to me online than are listening on radio and, quite frankly, that’s the contact I’m quite comfortable with at the moment, because it means I can sell tickets to my live shows.

If “Lollipop” were a Fergie song, I think it would have been a huge summer hit on American radio.

Well, yeah, there’s this thing where you should know your place. But you can bitch about it, or you can just create other ways to make your career grow. And I’m certainly not intending to bitch about it -- I hardly ever do, actually.

Are you working on your next album?

I’ve been working on it for a while actually. I was recording demos for my second album as I was recording the first album. I really like the opportunity that I have in front of me. I just want more. When I was making my first album, I wouldn’t talk to anyone about it, and I think I’m going to have to keep the same attitude for this one. Even though I’m fucking tempted to go on and on!

Please, let me tempt you! You could go on a little more.

[Laughs] No. No more. But I’m certainly not going to kowtow to the pressure of trying to get radio support in certain territories. I’m not interested in manipulating what I do for anything. I’m going to do what I do. I write songs for myself, and I’m going to continue doing that. If it gives me that funny feeling in the back of my spine, the kind of feeling that makes me want to go to the loo, then I know that it’s good.

Let’s talk about the reaction to your Out cover story.

So how did it go?

On our side? There were a lot of people who were just thrilled to see it and hear what you had to say. And we also got a lot of flak, people who said, “How could a magazine called Out put someone on the cover who seems ashamed to admit he’s gay?”

That’s nonsense.

What’s your reaction to that?

Yeah, well, I’m sure you heard that a lot. But I always polarize opinions, whether it’s my private life or the music that I make, and I’ve had to deal with that over the past year. I think that’s been one of the biggest learning curves. I’ve gotten a huge amount of success, but if you had any idea of the amount of flak that I get for the kind of songs that I write or the way that I talk about or refuse to talk about almost any private aspect of my life -- you’d be pretty astonished. And one of the biggest challenges that I’ve had is just saying to myself, You know what? Just stay the same. Stay the way that you are. I can understand that you got polarized opinions. Of course you were going to. That doesn’t surprise me.

Do you think there’s a way to describe your sexuality without using labels?

Of course there’s ways of discussing sexuality without using labels. I think that if you want to discuss sexuality or just kind of sexual things to begin with, I think there definitely is. I think that’s far more interesting than talking about whether someone is agreeing to or refusing to use labels. I think that’s what your article -- and definitely your [cover] headline [Mika: Gay/Post-Gay/Not Gay?] was getting at.

Is that a conversation you want to have more of? Is it that you won’t talk about anything in your life regarding sex, or that you don’t want to talk about it in the terms that people have been asking you to?

I’ll talk about my opinions, and I’ll talk about my music, and I’ll write about my opinions or about my personal life stories in my music. I will not talk about labels, and I will not talk about over-categorizing things, because labels are the one thing that I’ve never agreed with -- simply because I just don’t fit into them in my own personal life. And yes, if someone’s willing to have an interesting conversation and take the time and patience to go into stuff like that, then yeah, I think it’s fascinating. But I write songs -- that’s what I do first. I don’t politicize myself or my life, and I am who I am. If you know my lyrics and if you know my songs, you probably know a lot more about me than if you just read an article about me.