Meeting Tom Ford

David Zaritsky reports from an exclusive Tom Ford event in New York.

Tom Ford and David Zaritsky

Thought some of you might get a kick out of this story... I have been documenting for my podcasts the journey of aquiring a Tom Ford QoS suit over the last two months... 

During that time I have had fittings, received the suit, and have had many a conversation with the Tom Ford people in the interim regarding all things Bond both present and future. This will all be documented on film in an upcoming Bond Lifestyle podcast. That all being said last week I received a message from Tom Ford's publicist and Mario Lopez (rep at Tom Ford) to invite me to a private cocktail reception at the NYC Store where I would meet Tom Ford himself. The foundation (excuse the pun) of the reception was a quiet launch around Tom Ford's cosmetics line but I jumped at the chance to meet Tom Ford himself. 

So, with wife in hand AND wearing my new QoS Tom Ford suit I entered the evening not expecting much but being very pleasantly surprised. Not only did I get to meet Tom Ford and chat with him but two of my Bond collecting brothers also wound up being at the reception! SRuzgar and Redsleighdown.

The reception itself was a very high class affair with flowing champagne, caviar etc... the servers and attendants were all models and the small crowd was a mix of beautiful people and funky looking people. As my wife and I stood sipping champagne and catching up with Simon and Charlie, Mario came around the corner and stated to us that there was someone who wanted to meet us...then appeared Tom Ford, looking every bit like his photos and movies. He greeted us, noticing all te details of our suits, accessories, and even remarked how Simon and I had to be brothers because we looked so much alike. 

We chatted it up for much longer than I expected and as he turned to work another part of the crowd I had to ask, "Mr. Ford, as corny as this is, would you mind if I took a picture with you?" Fully expecting him to gently turn down the request I was happily surprised that the opposite happened...a new Tom Ford appeared. We spent the next several minutes with Tom Ford graciously taking photos with us AND him teaching us how to pose! "Look through the lens and MELT it!" "Look through the lens at someone on the other side you want to seduce!" 

Clearly I was not as good at this off the bat...need practice. Interestingly my request sent the room into a fervor of requests for posed photos which he happily obliged. Throughout the night when we ran into TF he would always refer to Simon and I as "the brothers". 

Not to take too much away from the podcast, but of course we spoke about Bond to the TF reps and suffice it to say we are working diligently on getting the manifesto for the new movie. It may be challenging intially because apart from suitings, TF may be designing pieces specifically for the film that would not be available until fall of next year. All in all, an amazing evening with friends, cool ambiance, and Tom Ford.