Tom Ford's Return

Early Sunday night Freja had the tremendous honor and privilege of modeling in arguably the most significant show held in New York this season. Tom Ford made his much anticipated return to womenswear by debuting a small collection to a select group of guests. The list of women enlisted to model in the show is amazing and diverse by usual fashion standards: Caroline Murphy, Daria, Natalia, and Karen to name a few of the established models. Abbey, Liu, and Joan to name a few of the newer faces. Julianne Moore, Beyonce and Rita Wilson to name some celebrities. Notice how these women represent a good range of age, race and body types. Quite a departure from the usual demographics of your typical fashion presentation/show.

Apparently, photographs won't be released until January. And only one photographer, Terry Richardson, was allowed to take pictures during the event (I'll hold my tongue here). Tom Ford himself introduced each model and the piece she was wearing. All who participated were women who "inspired him." To give you an idea of how big this event was, Beyonce decided to forgo the VMA's in order to model for Ford. Can you say, whoa.

What a special event for Freja to be a part of. And maybe not that surprising considering she is the current face of Tom Ford Eyewear. Ford is most definitely known for his glamorous femininity, so it makes me happy to know that Freja isn't considered to be too masculine/edgy/tomboyish/androgynous/insert whatever other adjective that's commonly used to describer her here. I always thought that if Ford had still been designing when Freja first started modeling, she would have been perfect for the image he was projecting and he would have definitely used her. But maybe that's just me.

Anyway, New York is going incredibly well for Freja. She's averaging only one show per day, but she's making that show count. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the week and the rest of the cities bring. If things continue on...I think Freja will be on pace to match or even break her tally of openings and closings from last season.

The Birds

Tom Ford Eyewear F/W 10.11
Ph: Tom Ford
Other Models: Nicholas Hoult

Now that the full campaign has been released, you can see why Ford went with a model like Freja this season. The eccentric, yet gorgeous qualities of her face perfectly mirror the dichotomy contained within the campaign images. There's a dialogue (and maybe even struggle) between maliciousness and absurd camp. The ravens are clearly meant to be a threatening element. Anyone who has seen Hitchcock's The Birds can attest to that.

Yet the facial expressions of both Freja and Nicholas betray, and even embrace the menacing aspect of their surroundings. "Why yes, birds are about to peck my body but I'll just act like they're nothing more than some harmless butterflies. And look! I'm even going to kiss one. Nevermind that another one just tried to eat my nipple."

Freja is just the type of model to carry this off. She's gorgeous no doubt (as 5 years in the industry and countless campaigns and eyewear ads can attest), but she's also quirky enough that she's not just another boring, beautiful face. There's an intelligence in her look that some people often write off because they just can't comprehend it. Or maybe they've only ever known Freja as the androgynous, tomboy model so they can't look past thair narrow way of thinking. Yet, all of the work she's done for the past year or so has countered that old image of herself, and some people still won't see her as anything more than the androgynous one. Sigh. I guess that's the power of having a unique image while all your peers kind of blend into one big blond hair, blue eyed Eastern European mass. But I digress...

The campaign aesthetic is a bit unexpected, but overall the images still retain some of the glamor we've come to associated with Ford's name. Chalk it up to the styling and dark, moody nature of the setting. All of this sure makes for one memorable campaign. I have a feeling that people are either going to love this or hate it, but one thing they won't feel is apathy. You have to love that about Tom Ford and his campaigns, for they always push boundaries. And in the cautiously recovering economic climate, isn't that a good thing? Isn't passion the one thing that all designers are trying to ignite in their customer base and the general public?

Image Credits: tomford.com, thepassionatemoviegoer.blogspot.com, best-horror-movies.com

Tom Ford Eyewear

In other news, add one more campaign to Freja's impressive list this season:

"Tom Ford liked directing actor Nicholas Hoult in “A Single Man” so much that he recast him again in the role of fashion model. Ford photographed Hoult and model Freja Beha Erichsen in London for his fall campaign, composing the images with ravens. Hoult models Tom Ford men’s wear and eyewear, while Erichsen wears only eyewear and a strategically placed scarf. The new campaign breaks in the International Herald Tribune during Men’s Fashion Week in Milan and will run in September books."

I believe this marks their first time working together, as Ford had already left Gucci by the time Freja started walking its runways. This is a rather interesting choice for Ford. No offense to Freja, but she doesn't really fit the mold of a typical Tom Ford beauty. But maybe that's what he's going for with this campaign; he wanted to put forth a different aesthetic and move away from the extremely glamorous and sexy vibe he's so well known for. Or maybe this campaign will see Freja transforming into someone we've never seen before. After all, this past year has given us lots of unexpected moments and pairings as we've seen Freja's career rise to heights and achievements previously thought to be unattainable for her.

Images should be released shortly so I guess we'll soon find out the reasoning behind this interesting casting choice. I'm thrilled of course, but I still find it pretty strange to go from girls like Anna Maria Jagodzinska and Caroline Murphy....to Freja. Whatever, get it girl!