Tom Ford spent lockdown going through his photograph album. Given that he is a self-confessed Virgo [“Yes! I’m a Virgo, I’m anally retentive – I don’t like that term, but it’s accurate…”] the edit of his aforementioned snaps – of celebrity friends and catwalk looks – was probably a painstaking process rather than a pleasurable activity. After all he had to distill 15 years of design into 444 pages for his second book, Tom Ford 002.

This is a companion volume to Tom Ford 001 – said to be so popular and ubiquitous on celebrity coffee tables that House Beautiful magazine banned its appearance in some house shoots. 17 years after that first edition Tom Ford 002 is a visual remembrance of his post-Gucci years – when Ford delved into fragrance and beauty, made an entry into filmmaking, launched his eponymous brand in 2005 and was name checked in a Jay Z song.

Between the monochromatic covers, the list of celebrities featured reads like the line-up of one of Ford’s fashion show front rows with Drake, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet rubbing shoulders with models Gigi Hadid, Joan Smalls, Mica Argañaraz, and Jon Kortajarena among others. Tongue-in-chic advertising campaigns shot by photographers Steven Klein, Inez & Vinoodh, Nick Knight and Mert & Marcus also combine with film stills and behind-the-scenes shots from A Single Man and Nocturnal Animals. Of course, there are multiple portraits of the photogenic Ford in his signature three-piece suits too.

On a more serious note, an interview with Bridget Foley (executive editor of Women’s Wear Daily) details Ford’s relationship to addiction and sobriety (he describes himself as a highly productive alcoholic) and how fatherhood has impacted his approach to life. The book is dedicated to his nine-year-old son Jack and partner of 35 years Richard Buckley, who sadly died in September after a long illness, and did not see the book published.

Having celebrated his 60th birthday this year Ford decided it was time to look back. Certainly he has achieved much both personally and professionally. As Natalie Massenet so rightly said in 2004 before Ford’s turnaround of Gucci, “He’s the defibrillator of fashion.” Ford has been elected chair of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (“My goal is to help women become the best version of themselves.”) and is perhaps the world’s chicest environmentalist. He has given up single use plastic, believes in shopping his wardrobe, and also became vegan four years ago having watched the film What the Health?

Ford has also found time to indulge his love of property, amassing an impressive portfolio with Buckley (pictured). They bought socialite Betsy Bloomingdale’s Regency-style home in Holmby Hills in Los Angeles and Halston’s Upper East Side apartment in New York among others. Ford is also not averse to a few tweakments – “I’d never get a full face-lift. Face-lifts on men are a disaster. But I’m a firm believer in Botox and Restylane. Absolutely. Why not?”

The moral of this story? In addition to looking back, Ford also says he lives life forward. The third instalment of his design career is sure to be as inspiring as these prequels.

TOM FORD 002 by Tom Ford, with forward by Anna Wintour and introduction by Graydon Carter, €95, Rizzoli New York.