Congratulations are in order for Tom Ford and Richard Buckley. The designer, now based in London, revealed in a conversation at the Apple store on Regent Street that he and his life partner have wed — by way of explaining tougher times. “I lost so many friends in college, I would say more than half of my closest friends,” he said, speaking onstage with journalist Kinvara Balfour. “Richard, my partner of 27 years, had also gone through something quite tough in his life. We are now married, which is nice. I know that was just made legal in the UK, which is great, but we were married in the States.”

The two met at a fashion show in the late 80s, when Ford was 25 and Buckley, a fashion editor, was 38. Two years ago, the couple welcomed their first child, Alexander “Jack” John Buckley Ford. “He lays his toys out. It’s so genius. He’s so organized,” said Ford, “I don’t know where it came from.”

News of the nuptials comes on the heels of marriage equality in England and Wales — without much fanfare, it should be noted — and just days after England’s reigning gay couple, Elton John and David Furnish, announced plans to take advantage of the new law, ratcheting up their longstanding civil union.