I simply adore Tom Ford. Madly, in fact.

As the Fashion Director of Victoria’s Secret in the 1990s, I wandered the streets of the world a total believer in Tom Ford’s sophisticated but blatantly provocative look at sexuality. With a few exceptions, Ford always knew just how far to push the sexual envelope, leaving the viewer on the edge of erotic tension.

via Daily YummoUnless you were a completely uptight, repressed sexual personality, Tom Ford coachs you into sexual awareness. Even if you chose not to open Pandora’s Box, you know what lays smoldering in the darkness. As Shakira said recently, “libido is the engine of the world”.

It’s true that Tom Ford is often accused of being a modern-day, superficially erotic dandy, but I never say him that way. His persona and creative mind always seemed plentiful to me and in balance.

A few years ago, Tom Ford astonished the fashion industry by walking away from it and a working relationship that no longer worked for him. All the details are in today’s NYTimes feature Tom Ford’s Directorial Debut Is Silencing His Critics.

(nudity under the fold)

With his first movie “A Single Man” opening soon, I’m thrilled to see his design eye and humanly erotic soul on screen. Just the trailer images grab me in the way his ankle strap stilleto did years ago. I remember that perfect shoe — it became an entire design story for a client.

While I look for it, enjoy the trailer to “A Single Man”, the story of a gay man who loses his partner and now contemplates his own suicide. For anyone who thought that Tom Ford was frivolous and Miuccia Prada the only brainiac in Milan, think again.

Tom Ford’s “A Single Man”

This post is back to back with Cate Blanchett’s review playing Blanche DuBois with all the power and resonance the role deserves. Perhaps the New Eroticism trend really is kicking in. I can safely say that it’s Tom Ford who persuaded me that the possibility for a sophisticated eroticism exists in America, even if it requires us to let go of our California-dreaming, beach-blanket-bingo vision of womanhood.

New Eroticism is a long-haul sensuality concept, with plenty of tacky porn in the way of reaching our goal. Today the journey just got heavy doses of estrogen and testosterone from the art world.

Good luck in your debut, Tom Ford. I’ll be watching and applauding. Anne

Update on 2009-12-15 20:57 by Anne

Read V Magazine’s interview The Truth about Tom Ford, in which Ford hints that just maybe . .. just maybe … someday… fashion could be again in his life.

Note that Collin Firth was norminated this morning for his role in “A Single Man”.Read UPI :Firth: ‘Single’ role covers every emotion.

Juliane Moore and Colin Firth star in “A Single Man”