Tom Ford: A man sleeping with a man doesn’t make him gay

Fashion designer and film director Tom Ford says that sexuality is far more complex and fluid than it’s made out to be.

In an interview with The Telegraph, the openly gay Ford ruminated on concepts of gender and masculinity in the 21st century and how they influence his creations.

“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,” he said.

“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,” added Ford.

“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, who debuted his latest clothing collection at New York Fashion Week, also spoke about his newest fragrances, F***ing Fabulous and Noir Anthracite.

He refused to describe the scents as masculine. “I hate that word… to me, it’s just a very classic men’s fragrance. It’s perhaps more men-centric but essentially I create unisex scents.

“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?” asked Ford.

The 56-year-old creative icon became famous for heading up the Gucci and Yves Saint-Laurent fashion labels before going on to start his own Tom Ford brand. He is known not only for his fashion savvy but also for directing the Oscar-nominated films A Single Man and Nocturnal Animals.

In 2014, Ford married Richard Buckley, a journalist and former editor in chief of Vogue Hommes International. They have been together since 1986 and are raising a son, Alexander John Buckley Ford, who was born in September 2012.