Tom Ford Interview: Rules for Success

I've always believed that if you create something that people want, they buy it. I think we're doing very well, but I think we can do better in all of the things that we do.

However, when you do settle on something that just feels right, you don't need to doubt yourself anymore.

I think if you're determined and you decide you're going to do something, you kind of fake it a little bit and you jump right in and you do it. I don't feel anything. I don't feel any of this. It's just— I don't feel it. That's not going to work. Nobody's going to buy this. Looks like a markdown rack to me. Get it out of here. Doesn't work.

I think people that are compelled to achieve never really quite feel that they have achieved.

You have to be what you're going to be. You have to fulfill your destiny.

He's an American fashion designer and film director. He gained fame as a creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. In 2006, he launched his own label. He's Tom Ford, and here's my take on his top 10 rules for success. Number 6 is my personal favorite, and make sure to stay all the way to the end for some special bonuses.

I've always believed that if you create something that people want, they buy it. If they buy it, it causes sales. If you have sales, you have money coming in. It's quite simple to me, that. But yes, of course, I'm extremely aware of costs. I'm very cost conscious. I weigh, is this worth it? Is that worth it? Should we open there? Should we not? Let's do the pro forma. Does it work? Does it not work? Part of selling is— business is a part of designing a brand. Yes, it's maybe not the visual part, but you're building something. That's what I love about what I do. I get to design, but I'm also building. I'm making not only a shoe, a beautiful dress, a man's suit, I'm building a company. And that's exciting. It's exciting. You have to be able to motivate people. You have to have a point of view that you communicate to them. And you, you build a company the way you build a house. And I find that incredibly interesting. So the sales side is key. It's really part of building a brand, building a company, building a solid business. And I find that fascinating and fun. I can't separate the two.

You've got all your stores. You've launched online, tomford.com. Kind of what's next for you?

Well, I think first of all, we need to take a little bit a breather and really consolidate because I think we're doing very well, but I think we can do better in all of the things that we do. And things are not— they're never quite good enough for me. And we're never quite there. So that's the very next step. Although 100 stores is still not enough, but we're going to stay there.

I was going to say, how do you classify good enough in Tom Ford world? In the perfectionist world, what is good enough?

I think good enough in anything is where you feel that you've given your best and you've said everything you have to say. And I don't feel there, that I'm at that point yet.

Do you ever doubt yourself?

Of course I doubt myself constantly. And in fashion, you have to doubt yourself up until the very last minute. Even if you've finished a collection and it's the night before you're going to show it and you realize, oh God, that's so wrong, you have to throw it out. You have to get rid of it. You have to destroy it. It doesn't matter how you fix it, what you change, you have to change it. So you constantly constantly doubting yourself. You know, you constantly have to question. However, when you do settle on something that just feels right, you don't need to doubt yourself anymore. It's when you get to the point where you're no longer doubting that you know, okay, that's the answer. Or at least that's the way I operate.

I think if you're determined and you decide you're going to do something, you kind of fake it a little bit and you jump right in and you do it. If you're the kind of person who who chases after things they want and is determined, and I was. And I was the same with making a film. I'd never made a film before. I had no idea what I was doing. But that's not true. I did have an idea what I was doing. I knew what I wanted. I'd studied so many other films, obviously, but watched camera angles and the way things were shot and actors. I had taken enough acting classes in my life to know how to talk to an actor and to work. But I was very, very lucky, and everything happened to work. But again, I had never directed a film, but I knew I could. I felt I could, and it felt very comfortable. As one gets to a certain age, you're very aware of time and mortality and of taking moments in your life to enjoy things. And yet I'm in the middle of building a new business, which I'm very excited about. So my life is accelerating in that way, but I think I'm also maybe appreciating it and understanding it and enjoying it more than I did the first time around. I was having dinner with Karl Lagerfeld in my mid-30s, and things had gone quite well, very rapidly for me at Gucci, and everything was really on its way up. And I said, "Karl, I don't feel anything. I don't feel any of this. I don't feel it." And he said, "You will. You'll feel it later when you look back at it." And it's true. Now I look back at that time and I think, "God, I didn't really feel it. I should have—" you know, felt it more. So I'm very aware of that today and of trying to feel everything that I do. It's very hard.

Do you think in order to succeed, not just in the fashion business, but just to succeed generally, is it talent or hard work?

It's a combination of both, but I would say it's slanted towards hard work, slanted towards obsession. There are many designers who have much greater talent as a designer than I do, but they may not have my drive, they may not work as hard, they may not have the focus, the desire. I mean, you have to have a talent, because in the end, you can have all those things, and if the pair of pants you make don't make someone's butt look good, they're not gonna buy them. So you have to have the talent to be able to make something that people want, but then you also have to have the drive and the desire to You know, sometimes people are successful because maybe they don't have that drive, but they have someone around them who takes their raw talent and pushes them. But what you often see is when that other person steps away, their career can collapse, even though their talent may be immense. I'm very practical.

You know, if I'm designing something, I'm saying, "Okay, but who's gonna wear this? Where are they going in it? That's not gonna work. Nobody's gonna buy this. Looks like a markdown rack to me. Get it outta here." Doesn't work. Out. No, I'm not. I'm pointing at you because you're sitting in front of me. I'm not saying your dress looks like a markdown rack. But also, after having been in the business a long time, I can look at something and say, oh, markdown. That's going to be a markdown. Don't even do it. Don't send it to the store. I have wonderful— to say middle-class taste, that's not the right word. And I don't like to use words like middle class. It's a stupid word. But I have mass taste. I think I have— and what I mean by that is, it may be aspirational mass taste, but if you put 10 shoes down on a table, I can almost— it's rarely that I will fail. I will say, those 3 are going to be the top sellers. That one will sell the most. Or if I pick the ones that I like, they will generally be the ones that perform. You know, that's part of your talent as a designer, is being able to know what people want before they know.

And while I said that the most important thing is the product, and that really is true, because you can have all the advertising in the world, you can have all the hype, and when people go to the store, if they try on your pants and they don't look good and they don't fit or they don't like the fabric, they're not going to buy them. But to get them into the store, to get them there, you need the other part of the equation. You need to excite them, and you need, you know, Pants are pants. I mean, fashion, you know, one pair of black pants and the other pair of black pants, you know. So you have to make fashion aspirational. You have to make people believe that if they just have those pants, their whole life is going to come together. They're going to get that guy they want, they're going to get that new job, they're going to get, you know, it's because— and that's just as much as a part of the experience. And, and it actually, again, that sounds like a terrible, very calculated thing, but it's not because By creating that image, you have endowed another quality onto that pair of pants or pair of shoes that really makes it something else and makes your experience of wearing that thing something else and enhances your life.

If it all gives you confidence to bring out the best in you—

That's the word. That's the word.

If it gives you the confidence to bring out the best in you, then it's contributed to your well-being.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

I'm kept very— my feet are really kept on the ground by Richard Buckley, who I live with, who I've been with for 25 years. The adorable Richard Buckley, though, who keeps me so grounded. I'm in a hole most of the time. So when I'm at home, I'm definitely not treated like a fashion legend. I don't think of myself that way. Occasionally when I have someone in for an interview, you know, a young student or somebody that I'm interviewing for a new position, and I see their handshake, I realize, oh, You know, I maybe have this effect on people, but I don't think of myself that way. No, I don't think you can think of yourself that way. I think people that are compelled to achieve never really quite feel that they have achieved, and it drives you to keep kind of jumping through hoops. Okay. I think the moment you get to a place where you think, "Oh, I'm a fashion legend," or "I'm a legend," or "I'm a legend at whatever I do"— I know what you mean. Yeah. Then that's when you're no longer competitive and you're no longer thinking and you're no longer moving and that's when you're essentially dead.

There are actually two questions. First one is, what is your why? What makes you wake up in the morning and do what you do, especially when you feel low?

Compulsion. I don't have any choice. You know, everyone has to live their destiny. I know you wanted to ask two, but I won't remember the first one if you go on to the second one. You have to be what you're going to be. You have to fulfill your destiny. For whatever reason, this is just the way I am. I jump up and I start doing these things. And I like building things. And as a kid, I liked building things. And what I'm building now is a brand. It's a— but it is still building. And it is a compulsion. I cannot help it. It is what I do. And I've realized over time that it's also what makes me happy. And that if I can't do it, I don't feel fulfilled. So it's a compulsion.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Reese Ashton asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur that you want me to profile next, leave it in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know which of Tom Ford's top 10 rules had the biggest impact on you, meant the most to you, and why. Leave it in the comments and I will join the discussion. Thank you so much for watching. Continue to believe and I'll see you soon.

Is it as satisfying for you today as it has been as you've been on this sort of meteoric rise in terms of transforming Gucci and all the things you've had to do there? Is it still satisfying? Absolutely.

It's more satisfying than ever. And once I really realized that— I mean, that's the key to happiness, is loving what you do. And, uh, 2 or 3 years ago, you know, I, I, for the last 10 years of my life, I wanted to be a successful fashion designer, and I wanted to have, you know, a hit show and another hit show and a strong business and blah blah blah, and all these things that you want in life. And, uh, and I had them, and I became a little bit depressed for, you know, 6 months. I thought, well, you know, is this it? Is this it? What am I going to do to get my energy back and to become excited about this again? And it dawned on me one day that I really love what I do. And that it's not about money, it's not about, you know, all these other things. It's because I love this. It's something that comes naturally to me. You know, if you leave me alone here long enough, Charlie, I will refinish your table, change the color. You're the guy. Yeah, you know, we need—

You're the guy we need.

I'll start— I mean, it's just something I do, and I love that process. I love that process, whether I'm doing it for a company like Gucci or whether I'm doing it in my personal life.

It's what I love. And I think everyone should be an intern, by the way. I think this is a problem today, is people come out of school and they think they should immediately be a star. And in today's world, of course, you can make a sex video and you can become a star. If you're clever, you can get yourself out in the world through social media and you can become a star. But I think everyone should be an intern. You should sweep floors. You should pick up pens. If you're interested in being an architect, you should run errands. You should do all those things because you learn so much.