Tom Ford is the personal brand of Thomas Carlyle Ford, an American designer, and director. He was born in Austin, Texas. He lived in the suburbs of Houston and San Marcos. After college at Simons Rock, he moved to New York, where he attended university, and then studied architecture and interior design at the New School for Design in Parsons. He devoted his whole life to fashion.

Before gaining prominence in the fashion industry, Thomas Carlyle Ford served as Creative Director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, where he gained experience. In parallel, he worked as a catwalk model and then made films, two of which were nominated for an Oscar.