The Minimal And The Maximal: Tom Ford Tom Ford London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2014-15

American designer Tom Ford is a legendary figure in the fashion universe. His work for Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci remains as revered and relevant as when it first appeared on the catwalk to delight a rapturous audience, and as a designer, he became synonymous with clothing that communicated an effortless sense of luxury with a sensual, sexy silhouette.

The previous two seasons, influenced by ethnic cultures across the globe, had seen a maximalist approach on the catwalk, but with this collection Tom Ford offered a sleek, refined vision exemplifying, in his own words, a desire to reflect “modest luxury.”

The collection mixed the very graphic qualities of early 1960s silhouettes with Tom Ford’s particular reinvention of a “Western” aesthetic partially inspired by his childhood in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Ford influences from Native American looks could be easily discerned in the long form-hugging line of velvet tunics, feet length prairie gowns in crimson and black and dense black ponchos. Not simply a reflection of a western aesthetic, these were all rendered in Tom Ford’s sensual vision befitting not the ranch, but the nightlife of a neon city.

Despite Tom Ford’s desire to create a more minimal vision of luxury, the looks were hardly reserved. Figure-hugging dresses that evoked a playful sense of sportiness were set in tinsel and sequins and paired with tight 1960s style high boots, snakeskin and leopard print broke the dark tones of the rest of the collection while rich, decadent fur provided luxurious accent.