Ex-Gucci guru is back

Tom Ford

One year after his dramatic departure from Gucci, Tom Ford is back in business. The designer is returning to creating luxury goods with the launch of his new company, called Tom Ford, with former Gucci chairman Domenico De Sole.

The Tom Ford brand will debut next year offering a beauty range, produced with Estee Lauder, and eyewear.

Ford, 43, left Gucci last May after a decade as its superstar designer. After he and De Sole famously fell out with Gucci's new owner, Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, Ford moved to Los Angeles to try his luck as a film director.

In an interview with the New York Post, Ford said he remained committed to his Hollywood aspirations, through his Fade to Black production company, but longed to return to his role as a designer.

"I missed having a voice in popular culture," he told the newspaper.

Ford will be the president and CEO and De Sole the chairman of the new company, which will be based in Los Angeles, have design studios in London and be financed with the millions that the partners made while at the Gucci Group.

It is likely other products will soon bear the Tom Ford brand, including a line of women's and men's clothing.

The beauty line will come in two phases. The first will be a Tom Ford for Estee Lauder line. The designer will update Lauder's compacts and lipsticks from the 1960s and 1970s. The second phase will see the launch of Tom Ford-branded beauty products for next year.