The ex-creative director of Gucci and YSL Rive Gauche Tom Former creative director of Gucci and YSL Rive Gauche Tom Ford will be honored with the Andre Leon Lifetime Achievement Award on Friday, May 20. The fashion elite will gather in Savannah for the annual SCAD Fashion Show that will feature the designs of more than 50 undergraduate and graduate students of the the Savannah College of Art and Design.
The award was named after Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley after he was honored with it in May 2000. Oscar de la Renta, Karl Lagerfeld and Miuccia Prada have also been presented with the award since its inauguration. In 2004, Diane Von Furstenberg alongside Zac Posen were honored by the college with the New Look Award.
SCAD President Paula S. Wallace, who will present the award to Tom Ford together with André Leon Talley, told The Weekly:
“Tom Ford is a fashion superstar. He is already a legend and has a great future ahead of him. We are delighted that he is taking an interest in the next generation of designers at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and we are so thrilled to present him with the much-deserved André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Ford joined Gucci in 1990 and became the company's design director in two years. In January 2000 Ford obtained the position of creative director of Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche and YSL Beauté. In July 2002 he was appointed the vice chairman of the management board of Gucci Group, but in April 2004, he resigned from his post.