Tom Ford will replace Diane von Furstenberg as the chairman of the CFDA. The news confirms rumours which first emerged last week.
'Coming back from Europe, what's stunning to me was the isolation I feel here. I feel that America is one of the most isolated countries in the world. We're very inward looking,' Ford told the Business of Fashion. 'What American fashion needs to become in order to be more relevant in the world is to think of itself as not just American but as international.'
The designer will start his new role in June this year and it is expected that one of his key focuses will be the reinvention of New York Fashion Week. It's been claimed among the fashion press that the city's venue will move to The Shed at Hudson Yards in September, although this has not been finalised.
The designer, who has won seven CFDAs, will work closely with CFDA chief executive Steven Kolb. Ford's new appointment marks the end of long tenure for von Furstenberg, who joined the CFDA first as president in 2006 and then as chairman in 2015. She has already given her successor her blessing.
'When I came in they needed a mother. Now they need a statesman,' Von Furstenberg said. 'What I think is great about Tom, a designer that all designers respect and admire, is that he's a global person [who has helped build] large companies.'
Tom Ford spring/summer 2019 collection
