Fashion / Style

Tom Ford Embraces 1980s Excess Even as the Dow Plummets: It’s Flashy Skin-Tight Leggings, Animal Prints and Sequins Galore for Fashion Week

BY // 02.09.18

NEW YORK — Tom Ford is seriously feeling the ’80s. The 56-year-old designer, known for his sexy and sophisticated eveningwear, ditched his normally sedate nighttime looks for a fall 2018 collection that emphasizes flashy skin-tight leggings, sequined animal print jackets, and roomy faux fur coats, with matching boxy handbags, wide headbands, and oversized hoop earrings.

There’s not an exposed knee to be seen in the collection, which debuted at New York Fashion Week in a lavender-tinged set built inside the Park Avenue Armory. The models are covered up, but they certainly aren’t shy as the bright colors and tight fit exude a “Look at Me!” attitude. Indeed, sometimes, it’s hard to look away.

Such Pointer Sisters hits as “Jump” and “I’m So Excited,” which blared on the speakers, added an extra dose of high energy to the celebration.

Ford recently returned to Los Angeles, after living and working for a number of years in London, and there’s definitely an over-the-top Beverly Hills vibe in the collection, which features a sequined sweatshirt with the script Tom Ford logo.

It’s hard, though, to tell if Ford has captured the moment or missed the mark in his homage to the excess-is-best-philosophy, particularly on a day when the Dow dropped more than 1,000 points.

Amid the Technicolor swirl, Ford also dropped in some nifty-looking jumpsuits with plunging neckline and cutouts at the waist. And he tucked in a nod to the #MeToo Movement as well, with a handbag emblazoned with the words, “Pussy Power.”

It’s been a busy week for Ford, who on the previous night debuted his latest menswear collection in the same venue and introduced a new line of shimmery silk boxer shorts.

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