THINGS I LOVE vol.7

　

There's something I forgot to mention when talking about GUCCI.

I think it was around March of 1996, Tom Ford came to Tokyo. I came for the GUCCI fashion show. A total of nearly 100 people came to Japan, including staff and models. It's unthinkable now, but in the days before social media and YouTube, it was a super big event in which the collections announced in Milan were shown in Tokyo, including both men's and women's collections. This event, which occurred at a time when there was no collection fever or luxury brand boom, had enough of an impact to predict the future of fashion.

I interviewed Tom for the magazine ``BRUTUS'' and photographed his collection's looks. I covered the event by being interviewed on the TV program ``Fashion Tsushin'' (for which I later became a reporter). Everything about this project was extravagant, and the success of Tom Ford's GUCCI rebranding was a huge success.
As that neared its end, a party was held at the Park Hyatt's New York bar to celebrate the success of the Tokyo event. At first, I didn't even know that there was going to be a party, but I did an interview with ``BRUTUS'' and even talked to Tom Ford himself. Then, in the afternoon on the day of the party, Mari, who was the PR at the time, asked me, ``Yu-chan, are you free tonight? Will you come to Tom's party? ” came the invitation. When I asked about it, I heard that Tom didn't like parties where he was surrounded by all the bigwigs in the industry.
There was no reason to turn down Tom's invitation, but on this particular day, there was a meeting for a commercial (for a major cosmetics company) starting at 7 o'clock. Now, what should we do? I just replied to the party, ``I'll go,'' and then thought about how to proceed with the meeting. Remote meetings are possible now, but back then it wasn't possible. Moreover, the meeting was about a commercial for a cosmetics company that I really wanted to work on.
I hesitated for a while, but Tom Ford won. I invited my stylist friends Tsuyoshi Noguchi and Keisuke Baba, and the three of us headed to the party. To get to the Park Hyatt's New York Bar, change elevators on the way. For some reason, the time felt extremely long, and the silence that was typical of the Park Hyatt made me nervous. At that time, I was DOLCE & I was wearing a camel P coat by GABBANA, and I felt like I had made a mistake. I think Mr. Noguchi was wearing riders and Mr. Baba was wearing MA-1. Naturally, no one was wearing GUCCI. Because it was sudden...

When we arrived, Mari was waiting for us and guided us, ``Ah, Yu-chan, this way,'' and Tom Ford's group was there. There were about 10 to 15 men, all of them, sitting around a large table in a U-shape. I thought, Wow, this is the perfect wedding for my family, but Tom welcomed the three of us, and we all took our seats as instructed.
Mr. Tom, who was next to me, was in a good mood and said, ``This Tokyo event was a huge success!'' Then he raised his left arm and said, ``Look at this watch. This is proof of the success of this project, and I gave it to the whole team as a present.'' It turned out to be a Rolex Submariner. Huh! A gift for the entire team⁇ “Awesome!” All the boys there were doing that submariner thing and all raised their arms in unison.
It was at that moment that I realized for myself that this is what a successful world-wide brand looks like. I was fascinated by the power of luxury brands and Tom Ford's way of life. All producers, directors, and other staff involved in the show are dressed in Tom Ford GUCCI suits and shirts, playing submariners. All shoes were patent bit moccasins. The time at the Park Hyatt New York bar passed by in the blink of an eye, overwhelmed by the uniquely American uniforms and flashy teamwork.

When I looked at the clock, it was past 8 o'clock. ``Wow!'' A meeting with a cosmetics company... Suddenly I came back to my senses and contacted the assistant who had gone to the meeting on my behalf, who said, ``Everyone, I'm waiting for Yu-san. I'm at my limit.'' ``Okay, I'll go now!'' I ended up leaving the place with my hair pulled back by Tom Ford's aura. Son Goku boarded a taxi as if he were riding a cloud and headed to a meeting at a cosmetics company.
In the taxi, I was reminiscing about my time with Tom. Richard Buckley, who was introduced as “My Husband,” is a journalist who can often be seen in Milan and Paris. At my first Paris Fashion Week venue, I was extremely anxious, but he kindly asked me, "Are you from Japan?" Richard Buckley, like Tom, is an American from New York. Her looks are tall and smart, and her hair is platinum in a 73-part pattern. At first glance, he seems sharp and edgy, but I've always had a good impression of his liberal personality and the way he treats Japanese people without discrimination. This evening party was a turning point and a valuable experience for me, as I was able to properly greet Richard and talk with Tom about various things that weren't interviews.

After that, I rushed to the advertising meeting very late, but the mood in the meeting room was gloomy. Anyway, the first thing I did was bow my head and apologize profusely, saying, "I'm sorry!" When I explained the content of the costume production, the director and other members of the production team didn't make any orders or objections, and the meeting ended in just five minutes.

All in all, it was a hectic half-day.

■Tomoki Yuma (@stsukezane）
Born in Kyoto City in 1965. Started his career as an editor in the editorial department of Magazine House ``POPEYE''. Currently, in addition to planning and styling fashion pages for magazines, she also designs advertising costumes for artists and musicians. Before the coronavirus, he covered men's collections in Paris and Milan for over 35 years.

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