Tom Ford, Post-Gucci, Takes A Vested Interest in Menswear

Ford believes there is an unfilled niche between the ultra-traditional bespoke suits from Savile Row and fashion suits from Italy. (Brooks Brothers has a similar theory. The company hired designer Thom Browne to create what it calls a "couture" collection of traditionally crafted suits with fashion panache. Prices begin at $4,000.) Ford's suits aren't stuffy or flashy. The most noticeable element is not the design but the fit, which is dazzling.

In this new incarnation, Ford has shrugged off much of what distinguished him as a savvy fashion marketer. He is eschewing fashion shows, which he elevated to high drama at Gucci. The man who once talked about how the lifestyle of Rita Wilson, wife of Tom Hanks, influenced his thinking as a designer, now avoids celebrity references. He is his own muse.

His glossy Hollywood image has been revised. He was not wearing his uniform of a black suit and crisp, open-collared white shirt unbuttoned to the nether regions. While giving a tour of his boutique before it opens to the public on Thursday, he was dressed in one of his own charcoal-gray two-button suits with single vent and matching vest. The trousers were lean and the shoulders sharp. He wasn't wearing a tie and his gray shirt was unbuttoned -- but only barely.

"For me, fashion is more traditional. Maybe it has to do with my age," says Ford, 45. "Or the time. It feels very current for me."

These are clothes for CEOs, law partners and trust-fund boys with a conservative streak.

"As long as I can wear it, everyone can wear it," de Sole says. "I think Washington will be a very strong market."

Ford believes his customer could just as easily be 20 years old as 80. But truth be told, when he was in his 20s, he would not have seen the beauty in a $3,000 suit like this.

"I think I could have appreciated the gloss of it," Ford says. "I probably would have noticed that it was better than what I had seen before, but I couldn't tell you why."

Ford is betting that a lot of men in their 20s and up also will be able to see beyond the sheen.