Tom Ford Had a Change of Heart About Fat Women

The opening credits of Nocturnal Animals, a revenge thriller directed by designer Tom Ford, starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, reveals a montage of nude, plus size women dancing in slow motion as glitter flutters around. The women are part of an art installment Adams' character orchestrated, but viewers of the film at Toronto Film Festival weren't too happy about it.

Ford admitted having ulterior motives when casting the plus size women in the film. “I’ve lived in Europe for the last 27 years, so I thought, 'What do I want to say if I’m having a gallery show in America?'” he says to Vulture. “Politics being what they are right now, I want to make a statement about America. And I remembered that great poster that I had hanging in my room when I was a kid, when I thought I was straight, of Farrah Fawcett in that red bathing suit. America was always tan, beautiful teeth, tits and ass. So, guess what? I want to talk about America today: Gluttonous, overfed, aging, sad, tired.”

But then, a change of heart! “I actually felt guilty that that had been my original intention. I found them so beautiful, so joyful, and so happy to be there. They were so uninhibited, and I realized that actually, they were a microcosm of what the whole film was saying. They had let go of what our culture had said they’re supposed to be, and because of that, they were so totally free. This is what’s restricting Susan. She’s being who she thinks she needs to be: I need to live this way, I need to look like that.”

Already ditching conventional ways during Fashion Week (his Winter collection on the runway can be found in stores now, dubbed "see now, buy now"), will Ford continue to buck the system by adding a few plus-size items to his Spring line? Will the plus size women in the film find their way on his catwalk? One can dream.

Photo by Nicolas Genin