SCAD presents annual Fashion Show with 
Tom Ford

SAVANNAH, Ga.—The fashion elite will gather in Savannah as the Savannah College of Art and Design presents the annual SCAD Fashion Show Friday, May 20, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Trustees Theater, 216 E. Broughton St. This year’s Fashion Show will feature the designs of more than 50 undergraduate and graduate students.

   At the 8 p.m. show, Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley and SCAD President Paula S. Wallace will honor fashion legend Tom Ford with the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award. In May 2000, the college honored Talley with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was renamed the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award and has been presented successively to Oscar de la Renta, Karl Lagerfeld and Miuccia Prada. In 2004, the college honored Zac Posen with the André Leon Talley New Look Award. Talley is a member of the SCAD board of trustees.

   “Tom Ford is a fashion superstar. He is already a legend and has a great future ahead of him,” said Wallace. “We are delighted that he is taking an interest in the next generation of designers at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and we are so thrilled to present him with the much-deserved André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award.”

   Ford was born in Austin, Texas, but spent most of his childhood in Santa Fe, N.M. During his teens Ford moved to New York and enrolled at New York University, initially attending classes in art history. He later redirected his studies to concentrate on architecture at Parsons School of Design in New York and Paris, concluding his training at Parsons in New York.

   In 1990, Ford moved to Milan to join Gucci as the company’s women’s wear designer. In 1992, he became design director and in 1994 he was appointed creative director of Gucci. He was responsible for the design of all product lines from clothing to perfumes, and for the group’s corporate image, advertising campaigns and store design.

   In January 2000, following the acquisition of Yves Saint Laurent and YSL Beauté by the Gucci Group, Ford assumed the position of creative director of Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche and YSL Beauté. In addition to his existing duties at Gucci, Ford worked with all creative teams at YSL to define the overall image and positioning of the YSL brand, including all product categories and communication activities. 

   Ford also served as creative director of Gucci Group. In July 2002 he was named vice chairman of the management board of Gucci Group. In April 2004, Ford resigned from his post at Gucci Group following a buyout by Pinault Printemps Redoute. 

   Ford’s success in the fashion industry has been recognized by a number of awards including three from the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America (1996, 2001 and 2002); five VH-1/Vogue Fashion Awards (1995, 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2004); two awards from the Fashion Editor’s Club of Japan (2000); the Style Icon Award in the 1999 Elle Style Awards (UK); the British GQ International Man of the Year Award (2000); the Superstar Award at the Fashion Group International’s Night of Stars (USA, 2000); Best Fashion Designer, TIME Magazine (2001); and GQ Designer of the Year (USA, 2001). In October 2003, Tom Ford was awarded the first annual Fashion Design Achievement Award at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum’s National Design Awards.

   The 4 p.m. fashion show matinee is free and open to the public, but has limited general-admission seating. Reserved-seating tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $20 per person. Tickets are limited to four per person for both shows and are available May 2. Tickets may be purchased at the Trustees Theater box office, 216 E. Broughton St., or charged by phone at 912.525.5050. 

   In addition, a live webcast of the 8 p.m. show will be shown at www.scad.edu/fashionshow.