Fashion designer Tom Ford has said he “laughed out loud” during a screening of House of Gucci.
While he praised Lady Gaga’s performance as Patrizia Reggiani, Ford, who was the creative director of Gucci between 1994 and 2004, was scathing in his critique of the film.
The Ridley Scott-directed starrer, which has been repeatedly criticised by the Gucci family, tells the story of Reggiani’s doomed marriage to Maurizio Gucci. Reggiani was convicted of ordering his murder after hiring a hitman to kill him.
After watching the film, Ford said that he was “deeply sad for several days” and that it was hard for him to “see the humour and camp” in something that was so bloody. “In real life, none of it was camp,” he said in the digital magazine Air Mail. “I suspect [it] will be a hit,” he wrote. “Splash the Gucci name across things and they usually sell.” Indeed, online searches for Gucci clothes have increased by 73% since the release of the film.
Ford, who launched his own company in 2005 after leaving Gucci as well as later directing the films A Single Man and Nocturnal Animals, went on to praise some aspects of the film. He applauded “Gaga’s and [Adam] Driver’s strong performances, powerful over-the-top portrayals by the entire cast, impeccable costumes, stunning sets and beautiful cinematography”.
