5 Things You Didn’t Know About Tom Ford

Photo:  Dennis Van Tine/Future Image/WENN

Tom Ford has long been known as the perfectionist of the fashion world.

From his immaculate appearance, to his five daily showers to his staff’s work spaces, every aspect of Ford’s life was under a microscope at all times. But that has all changed. Since the birth of his son Jack with husband Richard Buckley , the designer has learned to relax and but admits he is still “tightly wound.”

In an interview with the London Evening Standard, the 53-year old opened up about everything from his depression following his departure from Gucci, his foray into film and his new life as a dad. Along the way we learned some very interesting facts about the designer we never knew, including his use of Just For Men, his affinity for Hostess goodies and what his house looks like now that a 2-year-old is running around.

The most revealing aspect of the interview was the fact that Ford is actually an introvert, and plays the part of sophisticated fashion designer. “Most people think I lead a very different life. They see me in a retouched photo selling perfume, or in a magazine, and probably think that I am drinking and girls are lying around my house naked and we’re doing a lot of drugs,but really I’m at home having dinner with Richard and Jack and we’re probably going to watch television after dinner and I’m going to be in bed by 10pm or 10.30pm.”

Keep reading for the five things you didn’t know about Tom Ford: 

1. He uses Just For Men beard dye: “When I got up this morning I was going to trim my beard because I knew I was having this interview and I needed to look good. It’s going quite grey, which I sometimes camouflage with Just For Men beard dye — do not put that in the article! — and I just didn’t even have the energy. This old dirty suit! I literally just pick up the suit from the night before and put it on. Sometimes I have another uniform — jeans, a jean shirt and a different jacket — and it’s one or the other of those outfits. I used to make more of an effort in the mornings but I don’t any more.”
2. He is a sample size (an exact 48 perfect regular) but not thanks to his workout routine: ” ‘Working out has just gone away. In two and a half years I have not worked out once! I really watch what I eat, and I’m lucky genetically, I think, too.’ His diet is ‘really quite perfect — fish, vegetables, fish, vegetables, fish, vegetables.’”
3. Although his guilty pleasure is Hostess Donettes:   “There may be a pack of Percy Pigs during the day or a couple of doughnuts, or if I’m in America, Hostess Donettes — those cheap little white powdery things. I mean, if I even see them, I have to eat the pack!”
4. He is sober now, and revealed he was a functioning alcoholic: “I became quite depressed. When you’re depressed you drink more and when you drink more you get more depressed. And along with the drinks there were drugs. And when you have that kind of high you also have that kind of low. And I didn’t have a child and I didn’t have — y’know for a couple of years — a career. My life… I honestly don’t think I’d be alive if I hadn’t stopped drinking.  Once I stopped drinking I found this clarity, which can be painful for a while but my life has just fallen into place. I built a business, made a movie, had a child, I’m making another movie.”
5. He is an introvert: “It’s putting on armour for me to play the part of what people expect Tom Ford to be,’ he says. ‘It’s almost a performance, like going on stage. And it’s exhausting, it’s exhausting, it’s exhausting. I’m a very shy person. You probably won’t believe that, but I really, really, really, really, really am. I do not like big parties. I like dinner with six or four good friends or one-on-ones.”

Check out the gallery below for some of our favorite Tom Ford-designed red carpet moments:

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