Tom Ford can't stay away

Tom Ford

There seems no end to the talent of Tom Ford, the former world power designer for Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. When he left last year after a clash with the new owners, the fashion world mourned.

Ford wants to make movies, but right now he's planning a second coming with perfume and makeup. He has formed an alliance with Estee Lauder called the Tom Ford Estee Lauder Collection and redesigned Youth Dew as part of it. "My grandmother wore Youth Dew from the early 60s to the day she died. I live in her house now, in New Mexico, and there are moments when I can still smell her Youth Dew."

For his latest creations he lightened the scent, the concentration of patchouli and the colour of the fragrance and called it Amber Nude.

Makeup also gets the Ford treatment. He's concentrated on nude shades for the lips and nails. "The look I always love is a neutral mouth, beautiful skin and a dramatic, strong eye. This collection is really one look that works for various skin tones. And I've used real gold in the makeup so that it is very light, very natural, but with a glamorous edge."

Although the Northern Hemisphere gets the goods in December, we have to wait until April for the perfume and September for the makeup.