Fashion designer Tom Ford says sleeping with men ‘doesn’t make you gay’
(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for WCRF )
Gay fashion designer Tom Ford has spoken about fluid sexuality in relation to masculinity and pushed for stereotypes about LGBT+ people to be broken down.
Talking to The Telegraph, the 56-year-old explained how his new collection for Spring 2018 mirrored how both fashion and sexuality were growing to be fluid.
Debuting his two new fragrances, F*cking Fabulous and Noir Anthracite, Ford explained that he “hates” the word masculine and all the connotations that it carries.
He said: “If you love something and it smells great, why shouldn’t you wear it? Why can’t a man wear a beautiful peony-based fragrance?”
Ford believes that culture and society are moving away from the strict stereotypes that he despises, and he couldn’t be more excited.
“What’s great about this new generation is that they’re growing up in a culture where anything goes.
“If you’re a guy who paints his nails, that doesn’t mean anything.
“You’re a man sleeping with a man? So what, that doesn’t mean you’re gay.
“I think that men have always been just as vain and cared just as much (about their appearance) as women, but our culture perhaps didn’t support it,” he added.
Related: Tom Ford ‘didn’t realise homosexuality existed’ until he was 17
Ford, who has also worked as a film director, screenwriter, and film producer, added that in history men weren’t expected to conform to masculinity, and he hopes to return to that.
“Let’s look at the 18th century; those guys would go around with little red heels, lace, face powder, beauty marks.
“There have been moments in time where men expressed their vanity and didn’t worry about whether that compromised their masculinity.”
Ford’s own experience with stereotypes likely plays into his contempt.
Speaking about his childhood, the star said that he “knew he didn’t belong”.
“I was one of the youngest kids in the class because I jumped ahead [a year], so I was always the smallest.
“I hated team sports. I was more artistic than a football player,” he added.
