Tom Ford could never match the "artistry" of Lee McQueen.
The fashion mogul-turned-moviemaker has confessed he always saw himself as a "commercial" designer and he was jealous of the experimental and artistic shows put on by "genius" Alexander McQueen founder Lee.
Tom told The Sunday Times newspaper: "Lee was a genius. I am a commercial designer. I don’t pretend to be anything but, except that I have, I think, an elevated taste level that appeals to a lot of people.
"I have a great sense of timing, but I am classic at the core and a commercial designer. But Lee was an artist who expressed his artistry through his clothes. There’s a difference."
Lee was chief designer at Givenchy before launching his own label. He died in 2010.
Tom headed up design at Gucci until his exit in 2004 and he's now compared leaving the label to a divorce and admitted it took him a long time to get over it.
He added to the publication: "It was a divorce, and let’s just say the other party filed for divorce ... It was grief and it took me years to get over that. I don’t mean that I thought it was mine. I mean I gave as much of myself as I would anything. It was a part of me and I was a part of it ...
"Even after I’d started my own company, it took me years to really get over that ... "
However, he left Gucci a rich man and admits he earned so much money he would never have to work again.
He added: "Oh yes. I left Gucci never having to work again in my life because I had an enormous amount of shares."
