tom ford As one of the design world’s most successful figures, it seems an odd tactic for Tom Ford to turn down the custom of a high-profile billionaire. But according to Italian businessman Jean Pigozzi, the designer and film director didn’t even hesitate when he explained that overweight people like him were not welcome at his store. Speaking in the December issue of Vanity Fair, the larger-than-life Pigozzi, who is 6ft 4in tall, recalled a conversation with Ford, following a visit to his Madison Avenue flagship in New York. He told him: ‘Tom, I went to your shop. I couldn’t buy a handkerchief. ‘Tom said, “You know why? I don’t want big fat guys like you in my shop” … But I think he’s making a mistake because big guys like me have the money.’ Ford, 49, who famously revived the fortunes of Gucci in the Nineties, and received critical acclaim for his first film, A Single Man, starring Colin Firth, is well known for being a perfectionist, both in his work, and with himself. In an interview with the Telegraph Magazine earlier this year, he admitted to having been on a diet since the age of 13. ‘My image is a tool,’ he said. ‘I look at it as ruthlessly as I look at a picture in an ad – that’s wrong, that’s wrong. I realise its selling power and its potential – the brand personified. But it’s not me…’   jean pigozzi Pigozzi, 58, who is the son of Henri Pigozzi, founder of the French car maker Simca, is famous in the U.S. for his various ventures, not only in business, but as a philanthropist, art collector and photographer. Now he is set to pit himself against Ford with his own menswear line, LimoLand, which he recently launched with a store in New York’s fashionable Meatpacking District. Article by Celebuzz, referred by Lauren Johnson

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