Tom Ford channels the ’80s for his Spring/Summer 2023 collection.
Projected in the Hemsley Building in Manhattan, New York, Tom Ford showed up and showed out with an extravagant runway complete with renowned collaborators, celebrity guests and glamorous excess. The Spring/Summer 2023 collection took a step back in time, revisiting the 1970s style that propelled Ford as a force during his tenure at Gucci.
The runway show was divided into 3 parts, daytime looks, party looks and after-dinner looks. First, we saw Tom Ford’s version of sportswear: low cut trucker suits in lilac, disco shorts in black and silver and belts. Then, the show was pencil skirt and cleavage-baring blouse, his most beloved style from the ’70s. It was an explosion of leather, lurex and sequins: tiny bralettes worn with low-slung leather pants, cascading sequin dresses with thigh-high slits and daring cutouts, sheer lace lingerie turned daywear courtesy and oversize leather and crocodile skin jackets.
With a star-studded audience that included Madonna, Ciara, Chris Rock, Katie Holmes and more, Tom Ford presented a collection consistent with his acceptably sparse style archive, a style that not many can pull off. A final series of resplendent, feminine evening gowns, modeled by Hadid, was the exemplary culmination of a collection of past and present with all the familiar notes of the Ford brand and its longstanding idea that sex does, in fact, sell.
As expected, there was plenty of glamour on the Tom Ford runway, which turned up the glitz and sparkle to close New York Fashion Week with a bang.
For men, the collection was a bit quieter, albeit with a bold interpretation. Conventional black was joined with a nod to Valentino’s hot pink, as archetypal suits were enhanced with sleek lines, subdued patterns and the occasional metallic fabric. Tom Ford also wore his models with their hair slicked back as a reference to Austin Butler’s much-publicized turn as King of Rock. The hair was wavy, exaggerated and sky high.
Ford’s raucous soundtrack came straight out of 1980’s The Wolf of Wall Street; kicking off the show with a grandiloquent remix of Robert Palmer’s 1986 bop, “Addicted to Love.”
We should also talk about the lustrous accessories, which, true to style, also go to extremes, such as sky-high conical heels, platform pumps, and equally sexy but more walkable low heels and over-the-knee boots. As for handbags, there’s the demure chain-link shoulder bag with front flap, a fun mesh hobo with sequined stars and hearts, and an oversized black leather fanny pack, but slung over the shoulder like a handbag.
Explore the collection below.
