Having shown high-end trainers last season after vowing never to do so, then hitting the catwalk after his women's show wearing double denim, we thought Tom Ford - the designer who's synonymous with wide-lapelled suits and well-polished lace-ups - was a changed man. Forget tailoring; the new Tom Ford was all about giving guys the ultimate downtime wardrobe.
So when we walked into his headquarters in London's Victoria for his bi-annual LC:M presentation, we weren't sure what to expect.
Before we even got to see the clothes it was clear changes were already afoot. As you know if you've read our previous show reports, the reason we write after his presentations is that usually Ford doesn't allow photography. Rather, he talks editors through the pieces as a series of impossibly handsome male models stroll around a giant round table heaving with flowers, with racks of his wares in eye-popping colours lining the dusky grey walls.
This time that was all gone. No clothes, no high-shine walnut clothes cabinets, no flowers. Instead we found a large whitewashed space with two huge softboxes lighting up a curved white backdrop - like stepping onto the most minimal of photoshoots. "Every season we've tried to keep the presentation secret and every year photos end up leaking out of it," says Ford as he steps out to present to us, back to his former self and dressed in a black jacket with the collar popped up, a black scarf, white shirt, black trousers and an impressive tan. "So we gave up and designed a studio for you!"
With the photo ban officially lifted the show kicked off; a race through 30 looks in three minutes. The big news was the return of suiting to Tom Ford, which this season is cut far slimmer, yet boxier, in line with the Sixties-meet-Eighties vibe that ran through the entire collection. Particularly impressive were the black and white houndstooth and smaller-check suits mixed up with check shirts underneath (generally featuring smaller tab collars), worn with shoes with a flatter heel than previously shown.
Casualwear which not only ticked the trend for shearling that's been the big story of LC:M this season, but also showed you just how good sportswear can look. The trainers he introduced into his collection last season (the ones he famously said he'd never make) were not only back, but with another shape added as they've been so popular - a longer, thinner white leather tennis shoe with slashes of red or brown down the side.
However the most impressive look had to be the Sixties-inspired eveningwear, featuring monochromatic optic jacquard shawl collar smoking jackets worn with slim trousers and even slimmer bow ties (again, in contrast to his previously beefed up, butterfly-like iterations).
And while the collection of course looked great on the models, here's hoping that some of that Sixties styling makes its way to the Spectre set when he dresses the world's most famous spy once again. James Bond meets A Single Man? Sign us up.
See Tom Ford's designer archive here.