RIP

Tom Ford’s husband, journalist Richard Buckley, dies aged 72

Tom Ford and his husband Richard Buckley, alongside actress Amy Adams, at a screening in 2016 at the Venice Film Festival
Tom Ford and his husband Richard Buckley, alongside actress Amy Adams, at a screening in 2016 at the Venice Film Festival (Photo: Shutterstock)

Tom Ford, 60, has announced that his partner for the past 35 years, the fashion journalist Richard Buckley, 72, has died following a long illness. He died with Ford, and their eight-year-old son, Alexander John Buckley Ford (known as Jack), by his side, on Sunday evening, at their Los Angeles home.

“It is with great sadness that Tom Ford announces the death of his beloved husband of 35 years, Richard Buckley,” a statement from the family read.

“Richard passed away peacefully at their home in Los Angeles last night with Tom and their son Jack by his side. He died of natural causes after a long illness.”

No further details were given. Buckley previously underwent surgery for throat cancer in 1989.

Related: Tom Ford Talks Depression, Death And His New Film, “Nocturnal Animals”

Buckley’s career as a fashion journalist began in 1979 at New York Magazine, followed by stints with Women’s Wear Daily, Vanity Fair, and Mirabella. He became Editor in Chief of Vogue Hommes International in 1999.

Ford and met Buckley in 1986 at a fashion show and they quickly became inseparable.

Ford later said in an interview with Jess Cagle, “Our eyes locked and within a month we were living together. We have been together ever since.”

He said their actual first encounter with one another was in an elevator.

“By the time that elevator landed on the ground floor I thought, “You’re the one.” That’s it. Click. Sold,’ he said.

“It was literally love at first sight.”

The two men had their son, via a surrogate, in 2012, and married in 2014.

Related: Bad-Boy Designer Tom Ford Welcomes Bouncing Baby Boy

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