Tom Ford
Designer Tom Ford walks on the catwalk following the presentation of the Tom Ford Autumn/Winter 2013 collection during London Fashion Week, February 18, 2013. REUTERS/SUZANNE PLUNKETT

Designer Tom Ford has said that it was horrible to live in the early days of the AIDS epidemic. It was a scary time for him because he personally saw many people dying of AIDS, including his friends. It was such a scary thing that cancer sounded better at the time.

In a speech given at amfAR Inspiration Gala, where he received the Award of Inspiration and was also honoured by Miley Cyrus and Rihanna, the designer shared that it was back in 1979, when he moved to New York, just before he turned 18, he saw a lot of things at the time, including the early days of AIDS. According to him, half of his classmates in New York University died of AIDS. Naturally, with so many people succumbing to the disease, the fear was palpable.

"I remember the fear of the early 1980s," Ford said. "I remember the feeling of having dinner with a friend and running into someone I hadn't seen and the light would rack across their face and my heart just sank-you knew." He said that there were something in their eyes that made him aware that the next time that they would meet, things would not be good anymore.

He said that he and his boyfriend, now husband, Richard Buckley, used to visit different friends in different hospitals. They were dying of AIDS. He shared that they both got tested as well in 1988. However, while Buckley was not diagnosed with AIDS, he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Strangely, this news came as a relief to both of them. "I remember Richard calling me in tears with his results to tell me joyfully that he only had stage four cancer and not HIV," Ford said. "Who could have imagined that only having stage four cancer was something to celebrate?"

The new generation has not experienced the fear that his generation felt during the early days of the AIDS epidemic. The said that people can easily let down their guards, which they must not do.

This is not the first time that the designer talked about AIDS. In an article that was published in the LOVE issue of OUT, in February 2011, the designer had shared his experiences and fears about AIDS. He said it took him three dates to be intimate with Richard because most of their friends were dying from the disease.