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Background

When Tom Ford started his namesake brand in 2004, his longtime deputy at Gucci Peter Hawkings was his first call — and his first employee. Fast-forward to April 2023, Hawkings’ phone rang again. Only this time, Ford said he was stepping down and putting Hawkings forward for the top job.

“I didn’t sleep for the first two nights. It was crazy,” Hawkings said of his reaction to the news that he would step into his longtime boss’ shoes and become creative director of the eponymous brand he created. “But after all of that subsided, I realised that Tom [Ford] was giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. And I am, to this day, super grateful to him for giving me this chance to continue the legacy.”

This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed sits down with Hawkings, the new creative director of Tom Ford following his runway debut at Milan Fashion Week to discuss his origins and journey into the fashion industry — and his plans to continue the Tom Ford legacy.

Key Insights

• It was in 1998 that Hawkings first met Ford, after finishing his master’s course at Central Saint Martins. The then-24-year-old applied to the assistant menswear designer position at Gucci, where Ford was the brand’s creative director. This would launch a 25-year partnership with the two designers and eventually lead to Hawkings becoming the creative director of the Tom Ford brand.
• Working under Ford for 25 years, Hawkings says, was a master class in fashion design. “After working with Tom for 25 years, so many of his codes and references are kind of ingrained in me and my design ethos, and honestly, that helped me. That inspired me to create my own codes and my own vision of glamour and elegance and sexiness and beauty,” says Hawkings.
• Hawkings and Ford worked together for 25 years, but Hawkings said he was still surprised when Ford announced he would be leaving his namesake brand. “I was shocked, actually. I was completely shocked when he [Ford] told me… back in November,” he says. “And I didn’t actually really believe him. I honestly thought that Tom was going to be a Ralph Lauren of the world and stay there [at the Tom Ford brand] forever.”
• Hawkings, who previously designed Tom Ford’s menswear collections, said that he leaned on his wife when designing womenswear for the first time. “It’s been invaluable, you know, having that conversation with her. Her trying clothing on, trying shoes on… for me, it’s so important, comfort and fit and all of those elements that are so important when you’re designing for a woman,” says Hawkings.
• During Hawkings’ career, he had the opportunity to learn from not just Ford, but also other fashion talents, such as British designer Louise Wilson, who was one of his professors at Central Saint Martins. “I always go back… to the advice that Louise [Wilson] always gave me, which was one: work hard, absorb knowledge and give knowledge, understand what manners are and deploy them. Take risks. Failure is okay. You can learn from failure, for sure. Have at least one skill and develop it,” says Hawkings.

Additional Resources

• Peter Hawkings Named Creative Director of Tom Ford: With the sale to Estée Lauder complete, Tom Ford’s longtime colleague and collaborator will take the creative helm at his namesake brand.
• The Miuccia-ness of Prada, the Gucci-ness of Tom Ford: Brand DNA is marketing speak until it isn’t, as the latest Prada and Tom Ford collections proved.