Tom Ford store opens to mixed reviews |
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| Wednesday, 30 May 2007 | |
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Tom Ford's store launch in New York received mixed reviews when it opened earlier this month.
The slick concept boutique launched by the former Gucci designer received lackluster reviews in the New York press for its Savile Row pretensions and inflated prices. Tomford.com states to enter the flagship store is to step inside an environment of deeply masculine luxury. This is no mean feat, as the cheapest thing on sale is a pair of hand-woven socks at $75. A pair of pyjamas is $1,900; dressing gowns, in a range of 17th-century prints, start at $3,900. But where else would the man who has everything buy an umbrella or walking stick tipped in 18-carat gold? When promoting his venture, Ford remarked that one of his fur ski coats was 'perfect for a weekend in Gstaad or St Moritz, and those are the kinds of weekends our customers have'. The imagined customer is, of course, Tom Ford: 'I am my own muse,' he explained in a recent interview. The decor of this new shop is a similar to his Georgian house in Mayfair, London, writes the Observer. It boasts perforated suede walls, Makasar ebony floors, a bronze desk draped in gold alligator skins, a sculpture by the surrealist artist Hans Arp and a slashed canvas by Lucio Fontana, and beaver-fur rugs. Suits are displayed in glass vitrines, as if they were works of art. The New York Times compared the gloomy interior, with its black curtains and black lacquered 1920s French urns, to an up-market crematorium. Additional stores are planned for London, Tokyo, Milan, Hong Kong and Los Angeles. Last week Ford admitted to having been hurt by the criticism of his flagship store: 'We are running a business that's not for everyone, and I'm not trying to be an asshole, but some people can't afford it,' he said magnanimously, 'and maybe there is a sort of resentment about that.' Tom Ford is located at 845 Madison Avenue, New York. |
