Tom Ford is still grieving over his deceased husband Richard Buckley, who passed away on September 19, 2021, at the age of 72 after a long illness.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in December 2021, the fashion designer and filmmaker, 60, stated that his life hasn’t been easy following the death of his longtime partner.

“It’s been hard after 35 years, very hard,” he told the publication. “I keep thinking, Oh, God, I have to call Richard, or I need to send him a note about this. And he’s not here.”

Tom Ford Remembers Husband Richard Buckley

During the conversion, Ford remembered Buckley by sharing that his husband helped him out in the mornings until recently.

Tom Ford with his late husband Richard Buckley.

Tom Ford with his late husband Richard Buckley. (Photo: Facebook)

Buckley, a fashion journalist and editor, cooked breakfast for the couple’s son, Alexander John “Jack” Buckley Ford, on weekdays while the fashion designer simultaneously got ready for work.

But now that Ford’s partner is gone, he is learning how to do things on his own again.

“I guess I’ve added now to my routine at 5:30,” he said about taking care of the pair’s son, whom they welcomed in 2012 via gestational surrogate.

He continued to share, “But it’s a challenge to get him up, dressed, get his lunch made, get his lunch packed, get his breakfast done, get all my things done, and then I drive him to school at 7:45. But it also means I’m at my office by 8:10, so I get a good start to the day.”

It Was Love at First Sight for Tom Ford and Richard Buckley

Ford and Buckley began dating after they first locked eyes in an elevator at a fashion show in 1986. The fashion designer was 25, and the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Hommes International was 38.

And it was love at first sight. Speaking with People and Entertainment Weekly editorial director Jess Cagle in 2016, he recalled the moment their eyes locked by stating that they knew they wanted to be with each other right from the beginning.

“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.”

A month later, they were already living together — and they had been together for 35 years until Buckley passed away.

The couple eventually walked down the aisle in 2014 in an intimate wedding ceremony. The wedding was held in the United States.

Tom Ford and Richard Buckley Lived in Their Los Angeles House

Ford, Buckley, and their son lived in Italy, where Ford moved from New York in 1990, and in London for 17 years.

They also lived in Ford’s other residences in New York, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, and London.

According to a statement released by Ford’s representative, Buckley even passed away peacefully at the couple’s house in Los Angeles at night with Ford and their son Jack by his side.

The family of three had moved to the Los Angeles house after Ford bought the estate of the late socialite Betsy Bloomingdale in 2016.