Two days after Tom Ford dropped his final collection as creative director for his eponymous fashion label, his successor has been named.
Peter Hawkings, a longtime collaborator of Ford’s, will take on the role after his departure, the Estée Lauder Companies said on Friday. The beauty conglomerate, which announced that it had officially completed its $2.8 billion acquisition of the brand, is also naming Guillaume Jesel to the chief executive post at Tom Ford.
Hawkings has a long history with Ford; the two first began working together during Ford’s tenure as the creative director at Gucci. Jesel, too, has a history with the brand as well as its new parent: He has been with Estée Lauder since 2000, working with brands like MAC Cosmetics and Balmain Beauty. Since 2014, Jesel has served as the president of Tom Ford Beauty.
During that time, he oversaw the brand’s progression to billion-dollar beauty business, propelled by the success of products like its Black Orchid fragrance and $58 lipsticks. As well, its undisputed position as a luxury player helped it stand out as brands like Clinique and Estée Lauder began to lose their lustre.
As part of Tom Ford’s sale to Estée Lauder, its long-term menswear manufacturing partner Ermenegildo Zegna Group acquired the fashion portion of the business, while Lauder will own the beauty business and the intellectual property. Going forward, Zegna will produce both the brand’s mens and womenswear collections. Zegna will also appoint a CEO for the fashion business come summer.
Questions around Ford’s future role with his brand have swirled since the Estée Lauder acquisition was first announced in November 2022. At the time, the beauty giant put out a statement saying that Ford would remain the brand’s “creative visionary” until the end of 2023 and that Domenico De Sole, Ford’s long-standing business partner and Tom Ford brand chairman, would remain with the company in an advisory capacity during the transition.
Tom Ford launched his namesake brand in 2005, after a decade in the top design role at Gucci. His final collection for his brand featured re-issues of his favourite looks from the past 13 years, the brand said, worn by top models including Amber Valletta, Karlie Kloss, Karen Elson and Joan Smalls in accompanying imagery.
Ford now plans to focus on his filmmaking endeavours via his production company, Fade to Black. He previously directed the movies “A Single Man” and “Nocturnal Animals.”
