ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories: Fashion As Performance: TOM FORD Spring/Summer 2014

It is the perfect seduction of elegance, captivating the fierce of a strong attitude and the achievement of the femme fatal, but it means a classy femme fatal. For his Spring/Summer 2014 campaign, Tom Ford shows off his designs with a crowd surfing Esther Heesch sporting the designer’s super glam and form-fitting looks. Photographed in London by Ford himself, could you expect more perfection? The model gives a rock star performance in killer heels, elegant eyewear and body-skimming dresses. Absolutely sublime! See all the looks from Tom Ford’s spring 2014 line ...

“Power. Athleticism. Powerful women!” Well, Tom Ford was in a take-no-prisoners mood vis-a-vis the bod beautiful as he sees it a long-legged, fiercely clad vision of leather and glitter-armored sexuality. No messing around with midis or trailing slip dresses here. The class of woman who idolize Mr. Ford and there’s a legion, on many continents (he now has 89 stores across America, Asia, and Europe - Marion Heinrich's TOM FORD store in Munich) wants what the designer has stood for ever since his Gucci days. He gave it to them, in full force a wardrobe for making killer entrances and exits, for women to whom easy dressing is a term for wimps.

It would take hours for a girl to strap herself into a pair of Ford’s thigh-high (well, underpant-high) lace boots, but hell, this collection isn’t exactly meant to appeal to practical sorts. Sitting down? Bathrooms? Who cares! Tom Ford’s woman is one who dresses as a luxury product. She sees fashion as performance. Who would dare go out in a sheer, second-skin sheath, embroidered with ribbon-squiggles, or totally encase herself neck-to-toe in a jeweled tunic and legging-tight pants? Why, a swath of this generation’s ballsy fashion-competing performers, of course. Imagine these clothes in the closets of Rihanna and Beyoncé. Makes perfect sense, no?

That’s not to say Ford didn’t have some moments of restraint. There were a couple of black tuxedos and two pairs of high-waisted pants topped with wide-shouldered fur chubbies, there to draw a more classically minded customer into Ford’s circle of luxury. But really, this is a collection aimed at a super-moneyed young woman out to draw all the attention she can grab. In high fashion, there are only a couple of designers who go for this demographic.