A one-of-a-kind Harley-Davidson Cross Bones motorcycle (above) customized by bad boy Brit artist Damien Hirst will be auctioned off for the L.A.-based Project Angel Food charity on April 23rd. Bidding for the one-off bike / sculpture, painted with Hirst's signature rainbow-hued spin design, begins at $100,000. Hirst applied his centrifugal force paint technique to individual parts of the retro-styled Cross Bones, the first model in Harley's new Dark Custom line, and then shipped them to the factory where the finished bike was assembled. The motorcycle is part of Angel Art, an event and benefit auction celebrating the 20th anniversary of the charity, which provides daily meals for people homebound or disabled by HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses. The event, co-chaired by the likes of Tom Ford, Naomi Watts, Tobey Maguire and Robert Downey Jr., is taking place at L.A.'s Creative Artists Agency.

[via JustLuxe]

As a supplement to my colleague Deidre Woollard's rundown on red carpet fashions at the Oscars, I offer my own pick for best-dressed man: nouveau James Bond Daniel Craig. Craig, above with girlfriend Satsuki Mitchell, who was a presenter at the ceremony, wore a midnight blue shawl collar tuxedo with satin facing on the lapels and turned-back cuffs and an elegant trim black satin diamond point bow tie and white silk pocket square, all by his favorite designer Tom Ford.

The smaller bow tie in an unusual shape was a welcome change from the alarming trend toward oversized, clownish bows, while the vintage-inspired look of the dark blue shawl managed to be distinctive, classic and extremely elegant, a bit of a departure from the usual without going too far. Ford, who provided suits for Craig to wear in Quantum of Solace, also made Brad Pitt's tuxedo for the Oscars, though Craig looked the best.

You have to admire the brio of Tom Ford. While others are planning lower priced denim lines, the popular menswear designer is going in a different direction. Ford, who once hawked mangled feather-strewn jeans at Gucci for over $3,000 is back in the jeans business for his own line. His latest offering is pairs of $990 jeans made from Japanese selvedge denim with pockets lined in silk and an 18K gold plated front button. Ford's new jeans, which aren't easily recognizable as a pricey pair (no bedazzled pockets, no trendy style) fit in with the new stealth shopping aesthetic of wearing things that are expensive without looking overtly flashy.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie didn't win any little statues at the Golden Globes Sunday night, but they definitely defended their title as the world's most stylish couple. While Angelina eschewed glitz in an elegant and simple frock from Atelier Versace, Brad continued his trend of wearing Tom Ford's finest when the occasion calls for black tie. He wore a black wool Windsor model peak lapel tuxedo, white pique front evening shirt, diamond and white gold shirt studs and cufflinks, black grosgrain bowtie, silk pocket square, black patent leather shoes and a pair of aviator shades all from Ford's menswear collection - and, for those of you who followed the cummerbund debate in this week's Classicist column, Brad (correctly, in our opinion) wore one of those as well, made of black grosgrain silk to match his bowtie.

Brad Pitt made the scene in head-to-toe Tom Ford once again at the premiere of his latest movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald) in L.A. the other night, accompanied by wife Angelina Jolie (right).

Pitt wore a single-breasted, peak lapel Windsor tuxedo, a black silk grosgrain waistcoat, white pique front evening shirt, black silk grosgrain bowtie, white gold and diamond shirt studs and cufflinks, white silk pocket square and black patent leather shoes, all from Ford's luxe menswear collection.

Meanwhile, Motorbiker.org reports that Angelina has picked out a present for Brad's 45th birthday on Dec. 18th - a brand new $12,000 Ducati Monster 1100S Titanium motorcycle, which is not available to mere mortals yet.

Tom Ford didn't just outfit Daniel Craig in suits for the latest James Bond movie, "Quantum of Solace" he did the eyewear too. The Limited Edition Tom Ford James Bond 007 TF108 sunglasses are available for us non-Bonds too. The aviator-style sunglasses are the exclusive shades featured in the latest James Bond movie " Quantum of Solace" and feature :James Bond 007" inscribed on the case, cleaning cloth, and on frame. The glasses have leather temple tips with a Tom Ford logo plate inlaid on both ends and sell for $349 on Eyegoodies.com.

Is Tom Ford mellowing out? The last few years have seen Ford takes his heavily sexed-up style into a line of dramatic fragrances advertised with semi-nude photos and the promise of easy seduction. But perhaps Ford is calming down (indeed, a recent Sunday Times profile reveals an almost avuncular side of the famous egoist). His website, which used to launch with a rapid fire barrage of sexualized imagery, now has a restrained display of his menswear line.

And then there's his latest fragrance, White Patchouli. The name doesn't exactly inspire confidence (when you get right down to it Black Orchid sounds a lot more intriguing than White Patchouli which brings to mind batik prints and sticky bottles of essential oils). But the scent is really intriguing. A soft woodsy floral that balances the patchouli against white flowers, rose absolute and ambrette seed, it manages to gives the exotic intrigue of patchouli without the musty heaviness that has given it such a bad name. The most surprising thing of all is its subtlety. Unlike some of Ford other scents a woman doesn't feel like she needs to put on stilettos and a push-up bra. Restraint from Tom Ford? What is this world coming to? The 1.7 ounce Eau de Parfum sells for $92.

Decadent designer Tom Ford has come out with a limited edition collection of fur boots for men, with the top-priced pair commanding $9,240. The collection, calculated to appeal to wealthy glam junkies and luxury ski freaks in places like Aspen and Gstaad, consists of three pairs of boots and a compatible fur trapper hat. There are silver and tan natural fur boots for $5,250; chocolate brown kid fur boots for $4,470 (above) both with rawhide leather laces; and a somewhat dressier pair of natural brown otter fur boots which cost the $9,240. The hat is made of white badger fur and costs $4,510. Ford has become known for pushing the boundaries of luxury for men, and this collection is certainly no exception.



[via Affluent Page]

You've read about the Aston Martin mishaps and the Tom Ford tailoring; now Sony has released the trailer for Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond flick premiering this fall. Daniel Craig stylishly reprises his role as 007 in what looks to be an action-packed installment of the classic series, with Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton doing the Bond Girl honors.

In the flick based on a 1959 Ian Fleming short story, Bond sets out to seek revenge for the death of Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) from Casino Royale. Craig has said filming Quantum was much more physically demanding that Casino, and he has suffered some injuries along the way. See the trailer here and check out the gallery for production pix.

Brad Pitt obviously knows when he's on to a good thing. We're not referring to Angelina Jolie in fact, but rather Tom Ford. Wearing head to toe Tom made Pitt one of the most stylish stars at last year's Cannes Film Festival - actually, make that any year - so it's no surprise he's back this season sporting more of the designer's dapper duds.

Last week Pitt wore a classic made-to-measure Ford black two piece notch lapel wool suit with a white shirt and solid black silk jacquard tie to the Kung Fu Panda premiere. And on Tuesday he upped the ante with an ultra-elegant made-to-measure black mohair blend single breasted peak lapel tuxedo, black silk moiré bowtie, and 18K white gold and diamond shirt studs and cufflinks from Ford's menswear collection to the Changeling premiere. That's what we call stealing the show.

At the Metropolitan Museum's star-studded Costume Institute Gala in Manhattan the other night, all the best-dressed men wore tuxedos by Tom Ford. While some fellows got creative with their black tie and others simply looked boring in notched lapel numbers, those who sported Ford's threads -- including Gisele Bundchen's football star beau Tom Brady, actors Djimon Hounsou and Jimmy Fallon, and A-list shoe designer Christian Louboutin -- were the evening's standouts.

Ford himself (pictured here with actress Natasha Richardson) went with a classic double-breasted dinner jacket with grosgrain lapels. Brady, Fallon and Louboutin all wore Ford's signature single-breasted peak lapel style; Brady and Fallon went the extra mile with matching waistcoats. Hounsou wore a black three-piece wool and cashmere suit which was equally elegant, as you'll see in the gallery below. Ford's suits start at about $5,000.

It's a match made in commerce heaven: Russians on the quest for the latest in expensive goods and a man who lives to provide old-fashioned luxury updated with modern kinks. Tom Ford, the designer who sexed up Gucci and then moved on to his own line of luxury goods for men, is planning to open two new stores in Moscow next year. Bloomberg reports that Ford and franchisee Mercury Group plan to offer Ford's line of $5,000 custom- made men's suits as well as items for the local market such as sable hats. The stores will be located in Tretyakovsky Passage, a city-center lane of boutiques, and Barvikha Village on the capital's fringe. The Bloomberg article contains some classic Tom quotes including his assertion that Russians have been denied nice things for years. Only Tom Ford could make selling high-priced luxury goods sound like an altruistic gesture.

Fashion designer Tom Ford's road to tranquility in New Mexico has been anything but smooth. A couple of years ago he had to fight for approval to build his Santa Fe home. Now he has bought mineral rights beneath his Galisteo ranch in order to protect his land from possible oil exploration in the region. Ford paid $84,000 for the rights on his more than 1,400 acres of land. In the region the state maintains the rights to sell leases to energy companies. Ford's team tried to persuade the Land Office not to sell oil and gas leases to Tecton Energy, a company which plans to drill eight exploratory wells on 65,000 acres, or 101 square miles, in the Galisteo Basin. The agency however is charged with using the state trust land revenues to help fund public education. Ford's attorney, Janet McKay offered this quote to the press: "We are protecting our land by holding these rights." Ford's ranch is home to a working cattle ranch and an Old West movie set that has been used for several films, including "3:10 to Yuma."

Earlier this month the Tom Ford New York store opened its doors for the first time, located on Madison Avenue. Tom Ford himself was present giving personal tours of the 1930's inspired shop full of not only the designer's menswear creations but also decor from his own collections, such as beaver-skin rugs and Lucio Fontana artwork. According to Tom the store's appeal will be based on "exceptional service and immaculate clothes." Other features available to you while you shop include the fact that everything is customizable (from clothes to fragrances), a wet bar, and if you get hungry during your appointment? Well there's lunch delivered by a maid or butler.