Yahoo Finance Air Mail Publishes Posthumous Column by Richard Buckley Recounting His First Date with Tom Ford
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Richard Buckley looked back at his first date with husband Tom Ford in the last piece he wrote before his death.
Earlier this month, Buckley, a renowned fashion editor and journalist, "died of natural causes after a long illness" Ford's representatives previously revealed in a statement. He was 72.
Writing for Air Mail's "The Better Half" column — which sees couples pen love letters about their significant others — Buckley opened up about the pair's first date in the mid-'80s and how he initially doubted Ford's optimism in regards to his career.
"On our first date, in November of 1986, Tom told me, 'In 10 years I will be a millionaire and showing my collections in Europe,'" Buckley wrote in the column published by Vanity Fair after his death on September 25th. "As I already had six years of fashion-industry experience under my belt, I sat there thinking, 'Poor thing. He will become so disillusioned when the system chews him up and spits him out.'"
"That time, like so many others over the years, he would prove me wrong," the journalist added. "He achieved his goal in nine years."
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Continuing to pen more about his relationship with Ford, 60, Buckley wrote in his piece that supporting his love over the years was difficult, as reading negative reviews from the press made him emotional.
In one instance, Buckley wrote about how a negative review he read about Ford's first collection amid his role as Gucci's creative director in 1995 left him gutted and, as he detailed, "sobbing all over the page on the kitchen table."
Ford, however, told Buckley that receiving negative press "was all part of of the process" and that he had nothing to worry about.
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In another moment from his final piece, Buckley also spoke about his husband's work ethic, writing, "Tom sets a very high standard for beauty, and he works by gut instinct."
"He sees everything, down to the last detail. I've actually never known anyone else with the ability to be so observant or precise. Nothing gets by him," he continued. "And let's just say he can be a little imperious in his work, but then he wouldn't be where he is today if he wasn't unyieldingly in command."
"And, although I sometimes hate to admit it, he is always right," Buckley added.
RELATED VIDEO: Richard Buckley, Fashion Editor and Husband to Tom Ford, Dead at 72
Ford initially met Buckley in 1986 at a fashion show, and the pair eventually wed in 2014. Buckley and Ford most recently lived in London, New York and Santa Fe, and the pair are parents to son Alexander John Buckley Ford, 8.
Back in 2016, designer and A Single Man director Ford reflected to PEOPLE on the moment he met and fell for his husband.
"Our eyes locked and within a month we were living together," he said during an appearance on The Jess Cagle Interview. "We have been together ever since."
Even after a decades-long romance, Ford said he could "vividly" remember the first time he met Buckley. The two were riding in an elevator together — and it didn't take long for their connection to become clear. By the end of the ride, Ford said he knew he would spend the rest of his life with Buckley.
"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."
