Tom Ford: "I Have A Very Dark Side"

As a designer for the Gucci Group, Tom Ford used to rule the sartorial world, but after leaving the fashion house five years ago questions were raised about what Ford would do next. The answer came in the form of Ford's upcoming film, A Single Man, which opens on December 11. He spoke to W about his struggle with depression.

"I have a very dark side, a side that has struggled a lot with depression, and I've never been one who showed that to the outside world. I think when you say to someone, 'Good morning. How are you?' they should say, 'Great, terrific,' because everyone struggles in life. The Yves Saint Laurent thing used to drive me nuts--his depressions, his alcoholism, his whatever. Most people have a lot of problems. You can define yourself by them, or you can realize that everyone is going through what you're going through and you make the best of it and you get on with your life and you don't necessarily inflict that, because others probably have that too. They're just not inflicting it on you."

The depression intensified when he left Gucci in 2004:

"I started to sink emotionally, spiritually. I became a little bit lost. Leaving Gucci, it intensified because I had been able to cling to my job and to my work and to my identity as a successful fashion designer, and all of a sudden that was gone. It forced me to really think, Well, what am I, who am I, what am I about? It took me a bit of time to figure that out. I think this happens to most people in their life if they're insightful enough to indulge it and to get through to the other side."

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