Dive Brief:
- Tom Ford creative director Peter Hawkings is exiting, according to a Monday press release.
- Hawkings was appointed to the position in April 2023 following the brand’s acquisition by the Estée Lauder Companies. He succeeded designer Tom Ford in the role and prior to that he was senior vice president of Tom Ford menswear.
- The Tom Ford spring-summer 2025 collection will be shown in the brand’s Milan showroom in September, and a “successor will be announced in the near future,” per the release.
Dive Insight:
Hawkings’ first collection for the Tom Ford label was presented in September 2023 during Milan Fashion Week’s spring-summer 2024 shows. At the time, reviewers at the New York Times and elsewhere said the clothes closely resembled looks Ford had shown during his mid- to late-1990s tenure at Gucci, evoking what Vogue called “a greatest hits playlist.”
The similarities were perhaps unsurprising. Hawkings began his career working with Ford at Gucci in 1998 to develop menswear collections. In 2006, Hawkings left Gucci to work at the Tom Ford brand, where he oversaw design and production at Tom Ford’s menswear division and eventually rose in the ranks.
“I would like to express my gratitude to Peter for his exceptional contributions to Tom Ford from the very beginning,” Guillaume Jesel, president and CEO of Tom Ford and Luxury Business Development for the Estée Lauder Companies, said in the release.
Ermenegildo Zegna acquired the license for Tom Ford menswear in 2006 and extended its deal to include all Tom Ford fashion, accessories, underwear, fine jewelry, childrenswear, textile and home design products following the Estée Lauder acquisition. Zegna named Lelio Gavazza as CEO of Tom Ford Fashion in September 2023.
“I want to thank Peter for his collaboration since Tom Ford Fashion became part of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group,” Gavazza said in Monday’s release. “Along with his team, Peter has contributed to this important initial phase of development. I wish him all the best in his next chapter.”
The Tom Ford Fashion business at Zegna generated Q1 revenues of 65 million euros, or about $71 million. Zegna will report Q2 preliminary earnings Thursday.
