Tom Ford

Once upon a time we did not focus on a president's private life.

If my parents had discouraged me, I would have turned out very differently. They raised me in an open-minded, liberal environment.

L.A. is my American city.

From the time we're born until we die, we're kept busy with artificial stuff that isn't important.

The U.S. used to be perceived as the moral leader of the world, and we have absolutely lost that.

There's a different kind of comfort that comes from knowing that you are putting your best foot forward. It's called psychological comfort. Look at a picture of the Coney Island boardwalk in 1925. Men were in full-on three-piece suits, hats. They may have only had one suit. But they pressed it. They made it look as good as possible.

I'm a believer in fate and in fulfilling your destiny. I've always had a kind of inner voice that I have learned to listen to.

If I'm sending emails, and I get all wound up and stressed and don't know what to do with myself for 20 minutes, I just go soak in hot water and lie there, thinking, 'What should I do?' So it's meditative.

I haven't had any plastic surgery - despite what people think, this is my nose. I have had Restylane and Botox, but I don't think of that as plastic surgery any more.

I hate tricky facial hair. If your facial hair is too spotty in places, shave. Just forget about it.

You always notice a facelift on a woman. It's a tightness around the ears, and the scar is usually inside the ears. If I suspect it's been done, I usually move around until I can see it. But with a man, it actually pulls your beard and your sideburns back, and that's what's so strange.

My grandmother was probably the first person who I thought was beautiful. She was incredibly stylish, she had big hair, big cars. I was probably 3 years old, but she was like a cartoon character. She'd swoop into our lives with presents and boxes, and she always smelled great and looked great.

I was on the train from London to Paris, and all of a sudden it just popped into my head: I'm going to do the Don Loper fashion show from 'I Love Lucy.'

I just want to make beautiful, glamorous clothes.

I think people who are compelled to achieve never really think they've achieved... I think the moment you get to a place when you think 'Oh I'm a fashion legend' then that's when you're no longer competitive in your field.

Banking types should take their cue from Gordon Gekko. Or pick the best-looking banker in their firm and copy him.

Your connections with other people are important, our connection to the earth.

What works with your skin and eyes? Use that to zero in on your wardrobe.

On the one hand, I want to go off and live in the desert with my dog and sculpt things out of adobe.

The most important thing is to cleanse and moisturise your face twice a day. Use eye drops. If your eyes are white, you look healthy; you look fresh. Every man should have a magnifying mirror. If you look good magnified, you are set to go.