At long last, Tom Ford reveals his glorious return to womenswear—cue chorus of angels—with an exclusive, biblically long feature in the December issue of Vogue. It’s the grand denouement of an epic resurrection that included a top-secret presentation during New York Fashion Week in September, where his closest friends and editors were treated to an intimate, salon-style presentation—with no pesky bloggers allowed. Those in attendance were legally bound not to leak any information about the collection or pictures of it. Apparently this is the new Ford. According to the story, now he’s all about “formal” and “private,” and lets it be known that he prefers to be addressed as Mr. Ford.

As for the clothes, they unfold on a glamorous cast of supes flanking Mr. Ford. There’s a lot of “formal” suiting and “modern” eveningwear, although we can’t help but see a few echoes of current titans Lanvin and Givenchy. At least Mr. Ford is taking the fringe trend seriously, and not just in the clothes. He’s sporting much more head shag than we remember; he has a whole new hair line.