Tom Ford: 'I had a hard time distancing myself from Gucci'

We talked about why he decided to include some of his most controversial moments in the book, what it takes for American fashion to become a truly global phenomenon, and why he believes celebrity stylists have less power should. His book has been available in stores since November 9th. (Buy here: “Tom Ford 002”, by Tom Ford and Bridget Foley, 79 euros, via Amazon)

GQ: I'm curious as to why you chose to present the book chronologically rather than thematically. Why did you choose this approach?

Tom Ford: Well, that was my approach for the first book, and there's a reason for it. Also, I wanted this book to have the same format, like a second chapter, so to speak. I think fashion makes more sense when it's chronological because what you do in one collection influences what you do or don't do in another collection. I think it's kind of a continuous flow of things that affect each other, that react to what, you know - fashion is a pendulum, it swings back and forth. So it seemed useful to me to present them in chronological form, to see where my thoughts were in a given year. What was happening in my life, what I was thinking, how I was feeling, where I was living. When you look back, it's like looking at family photos and you immediately remember what happened and where I lived, which is why I did it. And it brings back a whole time, not only personally but also culturally and what was happening in the world.

Are there any collections that you interpret differently in retrospect?

Well there were a few I hated so I took them out of the book! With a book you can get rid of the things you didn't like and put in the things you liked. I mean, I thought for a minute about putting in the Terry Richardson pictures with the perfume bottle between the woman's breasts. But in the end I chose it because it was a different time. You know what we did culturally, what we talked about was different. What was considered tasteful or not tasteful, what went too far in one direction, was different back then. So historically, at least for me as a designer, it's very important not to censor these things. (Worth reading: That was the spectacular Gucci runway show along Hollywood Boulevard)