ch-ch-changes

Tom Ford Just Got a Fancy New Addition to His Résumé

Tom Ford. Photo: Daniele Venturelli/WireImage/Getty Images

Tom Ford, if you didn’t know, is a big man on campus for the fashion world. He’s about to become the big man of American designers, as WWD is reporting that the designer will soon be tapped to become the chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Diane von Furstenberg is current chairman and reportedly ready to step down after 13 years at the helm alongside CEO Steven Kolb.

If it happens — which WWD speculates could be as early as Tuesday — Ford will be the 11th person to be president, joining the likes of Bill Blass, Perry Ellis, and Oscar de la Renta. As chairman of the CFDA, he’ll oversee the CFDA Awards (the “Oscars of Fashion” to those in the industry), New York Fashion Week, the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund which supports young designers. Ford is one of a handful of designers who has managed to be relevant since the mid-’90s, while nimbly adapting. He’s knows how to sell sex to stars and to the masses, be provocative while remaining commercial. We should have seen this coming — his last collection made it clear that he was thinking about power.

Tom Ford Just Got a Fancy New Addition to His Résumé