While granting a long interview at the Los Angeles Times, Tom Ford revealed himself as a “clear headed vegan fashion designer”. Argumentative to some extent, even skeptical at times. The designer has turned vegan, since a year or so, more for health reasons than for ethical ones apparently. His new vegan diet made him change his mind about fashion as well. Yet, Ford does not go hand in hand with Stella McCartney, and her followers, nor with green and activist fashion designers. While dealing with the issue of materials of animal origin in the luxury industry, in the present age of easy slogans posted on social networks, he proves to be very clever and straightforward. Although we do not fully agree with him (with some specific words, to begin with), still we praise his speaking crystal clear. “I am not ready for fur-free, though I started to use fur much less – argues Ford. I made use of fake fur a lot, but fake fur is appalling when it comes to environment”. Tom Ford speaks out hereby, in black and white, about an issue generally overlooked by many vegan fashion designers: “Most people believe that fake fur is an accessible commodity. They buy it, they wear it for a couple of seasons, then they throw it away. It is not biodegradable though. It derives from oil, hence it’s rather toxic. You might argue that tanning is a very toxic process as well. Yet a fur – adds Ford – can be recycled: people wear it for 30 years, then they hand it out to their sons, and finally they make a pillow of it”. For the time being, Tom Ford is not planning to give up leather: “I make use of bovine leather, shearling, cavallino – he points out -. In other words, I employ food by-products, although the term does not sound sexy, and I do not take materials coming from animals that have been bred only for their fur”. Radical green supporters also skate over another issue: livestock and farming industry. Says Ford: “I am very scrupulous while using leather that is a by-product of the food industry: either I eat meat or not, someone will do it, therefore skins and hides will be picked up anyway”. During his interview, Tom Ford has been proving to be very sensible. “Whatever you say while talking about furs, you are likely to face a problem with somebody”, emphasizes the fashion designer; for the records, he was assaulted, in the past, by a representative of PETA, who threw at him some red tomato sauce (“One of the most violent and terrible things I’ve ever experienced in my life: I thought that the activist was about to take a gun out of her bag”). Last call is for good sense then: “I am not holding the right answer – he wraps up -, I just wish we could talk about these topics without running the risk of getting assaulted with tomato sauce, or even worse”.
Sharp vegan Tom Ford speaks out: “I’ll make use of leather anyway, I am not ready for fur free yet”
