Tom Ford loves lipstick, doesn't do drag

It’s one of the many contradictions amidst which Ford perches, unflappable and correct in a three-piece suit. On the one hand, he’s an award-winning director of unabashedly arty films; on the other, he’s very, very serious about lipstick.

‘Have you noticed how much make-up girls are wearing these days?’ Ford asked the paper. ‘It's because it's cheaper than buying clothes. I love beauty products. At Gucci I'd spend days working with a make-up artist getting the show to look right. I was never drawn to walking in women's shoes that's maybe why some of them hurt. I never had a desire to wear the clothes. I'm probably the only man in England who doesn't want to dress in drag. But make-up? That I'm serious about.’

The designer recently launched The Colour Collection, a 130-product line of lipsticks, eye colour, and one of the best brow pencils our beauty writer has seen.

But at heart, he’s a fashion designer. Despite spurning the industry after overworking himself at Gucci, the irresistible pull of capital-F Fashion has seen Ford sweep back onto the scene with exclusive shows in which Beyonce, Julianne Moore and artist Rachel Feinstein pull double duty as models. His first on-schedule show (officially called a presentation, but on the show schedule nonetheless) will take place the evening of Sunday, September 18 during London Fashion week.

What fashion gives him that film and even cosmetics can’t, he says, is a vital sense of pace.

‘I would lose my mind if I just did films and my next film [which he has written although he won't divulge more, apparently it's comic] is ready to go. But even if I cast it now, it would be another 18 months before we were on set. I enjoy the speed of fashion. I love doing diffe