AOC just readAir Mail, the subscription-based digital magazine company launched by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.

Reading the first article, Briget Foley’s new interview of Tom Ford stopped us cold.

In a media landscape where talk and promises are so cheap that we are in a state of mental rebellion before reading the first word, the Tom Ford interview is stellar, capturing our minds like a really good TED Talk.

No BS promises and definitely not clickbait. It’s personal and humanizing, filled with haunting quotes from Ford.

We don’t imagine Tom Ford going to his house in New York, sitting around in his underwear and a dirty-T-shirt, eating bowls of cereal while looking at the ceiling or watching stupid television shows. This is exactly the vision of himself Ford creates in the Air Mail interview.

His 10 year-old son Jack will be away at camp and Ford can nurture his wounds without trying to make sense of it all. Ford left his home in LA, which is a strange decision for the future full-time filmaker to make. Officially, the supertalent is relocating his film company to Palm Beach, where four of his collages are relocating with him.

Ford’s partner/husband of 35 years, Richard Buckley died in 2021. Ford’s father died during COVID and his first boyfriend, Ian Falconer, died in March at age 63.

Tom Ford is processing life with his unvarnished eye. AOC is omitting so much good writing by Foley. REALLY good writing.

Just yesterday I was having this very conversation. Foley asks Ford what kinds of films he will make when his nap is over. His answer should become a quote for hanging on the wall:

“A dark comedy, because that’s what life is. It’s a dark, dark comedy. Life is just so much pain, but yet so absurd. I think if you don’t approach it with a certain comedic point of view, it can kill you, life.”

Based on my first walk-thru, I can’t recommend Air Mail highly enough. Graydon Carter has a plan to launch digital verticals. The first one is Air Mail Look, for now a monthly releasing the first Friday of every month, and headed up by Linda Wells, founding editor of Allure.

Look how Air Mail differentiates between “Deep Thoughts” articles and “Superficial Matters”. Tom Ford definitely approves.

If Carter can keep this quality going, Air Mail becomes a triumph of modern internet media. I just love it. ~ Anne

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