Fashion icon Tom Ford has announced that his husband, the journalist Richard Buckley, has died at the age of 72.
Tom confirmed that Richard died “of natural causes after a prolonged illness” at their California home on Monday evening.
In a statement issued to Vogue magazine, he wrote: “It is with great sadness that Tom Ford announces the death of his beloved husband of 35 years, Richard Buckley.
“Richard passed away peacefully at their home in Los Angeles last night with Tom and their son Jack by his side.”
Richard’s career in fashion journalism began in the late 1970s, with his work being featured in New York Magazine, Vogue and Vanity Fair during his years in the industry.
In 1999, he was named editor in chief of Vogue Hommes International.
He and his husband Tom had been together for more than 30 years, after meeting at a fashion show in 1986.
Recalling their first meeting, Tom told People magazine in 2016: “Our eyes locked and within a month we were living together. We have been together ever since.
“It was literally love at first sight,” the designer also said of his first meeting with the man who would later become his husband.
The two eventually tied the knot in 2014, after the introduction of same-sex marriage in the United States.
In 2012, Richard and Tom welcomed a son – Alexander John Buckley Ford, known as Jack – via a surrogate.
Richard underwent surgery after being diagnosed with throat cancer in the late 1980s.