The milestones in Ford’s three-decade long career are well documented. In the interview, with Tania Bryer which will air on CNBC this Thursday he sheds some light on the highs and lows of his work during the 90s. Speaking about his time at Gucci he said:
“I was so lucky because I had ten years where – except for little, tiny glitches, I really almost could do no worng. Everything sold, everything worked. I went to Saint Laurent, that started to work to sell.”
But his position in the group was not sustainable, discussing the pressure that led him to leave in 2004 he said
“The toughest part was when I was designing both Yves Saint Laurent and uh, Gucci, because I was literally just shuffling back and forth between Milan and Paris, I would have one show and then get on a plane and have another show ten days later in Paris and it just went on and on, both men’s and women’s.”
“It was sixteen collections a year and I don’t think I could have sustained for very long and I remember when I retired in 2004 and I really thought I was never coming back to fashion.”