Designer Scott Sternberg Sounds Off to Apartamento Magazine About Tom Ford

In the autumn/winter issue of Apartmento, the Spanish publication linked with Band of Outsiders founder Scott Sternberg to show off his artsy dwelling. Though the imagery to his outdoorsy abode is enticing enough to purchase issue #12, it’s really Sternberg’s commentary on the fashion industry that grabs our attention. The Californian designer was quite candid on a wide range of topics that included the oversaturation of the industry, the troubles associated with being a smaller brand, and the overall “dog and pony show” that must be presented. What’s more is that Sternberg decided to give his personal opinion on Tom Ford and his relatively erratic business strategy. Take a look at what the BOO designer had to say about his fashion cohort below, and check out a few more tidbits from his feature with Apartmento here.

Sternberg marvels at getting it done, Tom Ford style: “Tom Ford is an interesting one. He’s somebody that got out, not intentionally. I think he sort of screwed up. He played his cards a little too far and they said, ‘bye bye,’ at Gucci and then he somewhat successfully made a movie…Then, he gets back in the industry. At the beginning I thought, ‘God, this guy is kind of genius.’ He launched fragrance and eyewear first and then beauty, makeup—all of it. Now these are the tertiary things that you do. Actually, that other people do with your brand so that you make a lot of money. Now I’m like, ‘Oh my god, he’s so fucking smart,’ because he doesn’t have to do all this crap, waste all this fabric, make all these clothes that nobody is ever going to buy that’s essentially for a few stylists to shoot and is part of the ‘dog and pony show’. He just cut right to the chase. What a genius.”

…Or maybe Ford isn’t a genius, Sternberg muses: “And then all of the sudden, he’s doing menswear and opening these ridiculous stores that are so out of touch to me with where consumers are at these days, even the luxury consumer. And then he’s doing womenswear and then he’s not showing on the runway and I’m like, ‘He’s a genius, he’s not doing the runway.’ And now, he’s showing on the runway. So I don’t know, I guess we’re not on the same page, Tom Ford and I.”

But still, there’s plenty to envy about the TF model: “He’s selling a dream without the middle part, without that sort of wasted part.”