The Best Of Tom Ford, The Best Of New York

For a designer who's never put on a classic runway show for his namesake men's line, Tom Ford captured the very best of New York Tuesday evening with his fall 2018 collection. To restate the obvious, Ford's pulse was hard on showcasing what we love about the city we love to hate; an antidote to the only other fashion capital that has perfected the art of complaining just as good as the city who invented it. You know the one.

But it's true that Ford and New York are synonymous, what with the designer's time at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent aiding him in injecting the multicultural, invincible spirit that makes the city so unforgettable. It's also true that this menswear event will not be forgotten.

In true Ford fashion, the Texan designer brought the sex, the glamour, and the sultry mood that's typical of any Ford spectacle. Think: a classic runway format, no hot ticket performances or integrations — no surprises at all, really — just fashion. But this time was different. Upon walking into the Park Avenue Armory, where he'll hold his women's show in 24 hours, guests were greeted with model-waiter hybrids holding trays of three drink options: a full glass of Casamigos tequila, a gin and tonic, or water. Whether the agenda was to sop up the clothes or get drunk on fashion was beside the point.

Silhouettes were salient and razor-sharp, each representing a caricature of New York men we're used to seeing — who, in some of the most problematic weather conditions, wouldn't sacrifice style if their life depended on it — only each ensemble carried with it a spine of Ford-level textures: the most pristine velvet blazers in wild prints, metallic and lamé tops and bottoms that command as much attention as it takes gaul to wear them, sunglasses that render the wearers too fabulous to be approached, and snakeskin boots that rival those of fuck-me pumps or any boot before it.

But he wasn't finished. We'd be remiss to go without mentioning the most gratuitous spectacle of the night: Ford's joint debut of his underwear line (available in June) and time pieces (available in March) for the show's finale. While men in underwear is practically a glimpse into the headspace, and boudoir, Ford lives in, it's the tech specs of the latter that really stole the show: they're Swiss-made, unisex, available in 18-karat yellow gold, brushed and polished to perfection, come with interchangeable bands in hand-woven braided leather, stitched leather, pebbled grain leather, and alligator, and completely unaffordable for folks like us. Take that, Apple Watch.