A
PAIR of socks at Tom Ford’s new store costs $75. If this is a problem, stop reading
now.

One
can gauge from the breathy reaction to Mr. Ford’s new men’s wear
collection, which he showed on Monday, that his relevance as a cultural force
in fashion has not diminished in the three years since he resigned from Gucci,
as had been predicted at times. The mythology of Mr. Ford, who was the
emblematic driver of the luxury-brand revivals of last decade, is such that a
certain level of significance is attached to his return. What does it mean?

Mr.
Ford’s
new clothes are lavishly expensive, with suits costing $3,500 off the rack and
$350 dress shirts (with seven different collars and three cuff options).
Upstairs in the store, which opens today at 845 Madison Avenue at 70th Street,
custom suits can be made in the tradition of Savile Row, albeit in a much
sexier environment, beginning at $5,000.

The
store is staffed with uniformed butlers and maids and a receptionist at the
front door, all of whom seemed more than pleased, during a preview, to be
relegated to such Old World Disney stock characters. The merch, rather classic
when compared with Mr. Ford’s Gucci signatures, is displayed in glass cabinets. Women’s Wear
Daily described the concept as “uberluxury.” Sigh.

One
could read something into Mr. Ford’s return about a prospective fashion revolution among male
shoppers, if that had not already been happening with the popularity of Dior
Homme, Thom Browne and Michael Bastian. More likely, it speaks to a migration
toward more customized niche brands, which cater to a minute portion of the
population with no concern about credit card debt.

On
this point, Mr. Ford hit the target. Wearing a three-piece suit, with a
buttoned-up waistcoat, did he not seem taller, even better looking than before?

“Can you
believe how tall he looks?” asked Cathy Hardwick, the designer who gave Mr. Ford his
first job. “It’s like he’s had
Michael Jackson work done or something.”