Tom Ford has never been uninteresting. When he left his post as creative director of Gucci in 2004, the fashion world was rife with speculation on what he’d do next. New company? New line? Movies?

He was seen hobnobbing with actors, models and fashion brands, at one point getting a star on Rodeo Drive, at another point announcing a “creative collaboration” with Estée Lauder. So when he finally declared, in 2006, a menswear brand and a new New York store, expectations were that it would be glamorous and exciting, with an emphasis on design.

Expectations were right. The Tom Ford merchandise, inspired by Savile Row and handmade Italian tailoring, has evolved into an elegant marriage of art and fashion. And its Madison Avenue store is defined by opulent design, an attention to detail and the use of beautiful materials.

Artwork and materials abound, beginning with the dramatic work by Lucio Fontana in the entryway, a piece from Ford’s personal collection. Also near the door is a cast bronze crocodile reception desk commissioned from the French sculptor Claude Lalanne. The two art pieces share the double-height entry space, accentuated by a flooring of heavily veined, book-matched marble slabs and custom-dyed gray suede-paneled walls.

For the first retail embodiment of his brand, Ford was – no surprise – after luxe and chic, with the standards of excellence and tradition that match the merchandise. “It should feel as if old Hollywood invented a men’s couture salon,” he says.

Working with interior designer Bill Sofield, Ford envisioned a residential feel and each salon evokes a room in a house. So the ready-to-wear suiting area is a “living room” on the first floor. During the day, the throw of natural light through opened curtains brightens the space, appointed with a pair of neoclassical “Gustavian” chairs, two art deco urns, a Chinese Chippendale mirror above the mantle and silver-leaf folding screens created for Ford by artist Nancy Lorenz.

The clothing room, evocative of a sitting room, features glass-front wardrobes and a large marble basalt-tile fireplace. And the shirt “library,” with 350 colors and 35 fabrics, is richly appointed with wood-paneled walls and a librarian’s ladder to reach the highest shelves. In the brightly lit perfumery, with its highly figured marble and mercury mirror, a stone-top table provides the parfumier a work surface to create custom blends.

Also important to Ford was a variety in materials, as evidenced in the flooring change that has the shopper walking from wood to marble, and the Macassar ebony shelving under an ebony coffered ceiling in the shoe and luggage room.

A dramatic oval staircase framing a striking Jean Arp sculpture leads to the made-to-measure suiting salons upstairs. Cast-bronze sconces and torchieres were forged in the same foundry that produced Giacometti’s sculptures. Chairs are covered in sable hair-on-hide and leather.

Private fitting rooms and master tailors complete the Tom Ford experience. There’s also a butler and a maid on hand, and the shopper can spend the afternoon. But he’d better have an appointment.

Ford has said his aim is for “the kind of sumptuous setting that matches the client’s lifestyle.” For the lifestyles of the designer’s friends from the Hollywood Hills and Park Avenue, he has given them a home on Madison Avenue.

Client: Tom Ford Intl., New York

Design: Studio Sofield, New York

Executive Architect: TPG, New York

General Contractor: Shawmut Design & Construction, New York

Architectural Millwork: Principle Fixture and Millwork, New York

Beaver Rug: Dualoy Leather, New York

Carpet: Creative Matters Inc., Toronto

Custom Hardware: P.E. Guerin Inc., New York

Custom Shelving System: Urban Archaeology, New York

Laquered Walls: Geoff Allen Studios, New York; John Opella, New York

Lighting: lliam Armstrong Lighting Design, New York

Millwork: Arredoquattro Industries, New York

Stone: Artisan Stonework, Normandy, France

Swedish Gustavian Chairs: Bernd Goeckler Antiques, New York

Photography: Martyn Thompson, New York