1999
While Ford built his Gucci
image by pitching the joys of self–indulgence as a lifestyle, he had always resisted woe–is–me whining in response to stress or bad reviews. Still, he had to deal with the fame and responsibility that came with his work, including the reality that the bottom line depended upon his ability to consistently deliver dazzling ideas in a commercially viable package. When it all seemed to be crashing in personally, Ford felt his proud stiff upper lip quiver, and he didn’t like it. Long time companion Richard Buckley recognized the trauma as at least partially self–induced. Once, when Ford proclaimed that he hated being a fashion designer, Buckley responded, “You are a fashion designer.” Point taken. Though not quite instantaneous, Ford’s reemergence from malaise happened quickly. “You go through depression and you wake up one morning and say, ‘You know what? I’m tired of being depressed,’” he explains. “Life’s not that bad. What am I complaining about?” Ford’s new enthusiasm for his work pulsed through his spring collection. The show was a tour de force steeped in nothing more cerebral than good old–fashioned joie du mode, delivered, of course, with Guccistyle audacity. “I read in my horoscope, ‘Go for what scares you,’” he said at the time. “So I went for Cher.” He invoked her in all her feathered, glitzed, Bob Mackied glory, along with Native Americans, Vegas babes, biker girls and cowgirls, inspired by Nudie Western Wear. Enter Bernard Arnault of LVMH, the catalyst who set in motion the series of events that would lead, finally, to the Ford–De Sole departure from Gucci Group. Arnault had purchased a sizable amount of Gucci shares from Prada’s Patrizio Bertelli, and the situation heated up as Arnault tried for a hostile takeover. Francois Pinault of PPR then arrived on the scene, ready to save Gucci Group from interference. Ford wasted no time in choosing allegiance, confident that Pinault, a fashion outsider, would secure the autonomy he and De Sole enjoyed at Gucci.
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