Designer Tom Ford talks love at first sight when meeting his longtime partner, Richard Buckley. Ford takes to the cover of Out’s February issue, enjoying an intimate kiss with his longtime partner of 24-year, Richard Buckley.
The portrait kicks off an “OUT” special issue dedicated to love, in which a series of striking photographs and stories celebrate gay couples and families, including artist Julie Mehretu and Jessica Rankin, Grizzly Bear musician Ed Droste and Chad McPhail, photographer Catherine Opie and her family of five, and supermodel Tasha Tilberg and Laura Wilson.
Tom Ford was a shy 25-year-old when he met magazine editor Richard Buckley in 1986. It took him the length of an elevator ride to decide he wanted to marry him.
“I decided in that elevator ride that I was going to marry him. He ticked every box, and—boom—by the time we got to the floor, I was like, sold. He seemed so together. He was so handsome, he was so connected, he was so grown-up, so he was very intimidating. And he really chased me—not that he had to chase that hard.”
Ford’s partner, Richard Buckley, recalls Ford’s intense support and love when he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1989. “There were people who Tom cut out of our lives because of the way they responded,” he says. “My best friend and one of my mentors had died, both from AIDS, and there were a lot of people who just assumed I had AIDS, and there were some people who wouldn’t come and visit me because they were sure they would catch it. I couldn’t imagine being without Tom now. I couldn’t imagine what I’d be like if something happened to him. There’s only one Tom for me. He is still that man who I met 24 years ago.”
The new issue of Out on stands January 25.
photos: courtesy of OUT magazine; Fame
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