Tom Ford's husband Richard Buckley dies aged 72 after 35 years together

Tom Ford's husband Richard Buckley has died aged 72. Richard, an acclaimed fashion editor and journalist, died after a long-term illness.

A statement from the family's reps said, "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 with Tom and their son Jack by his side."

Tom, who recently attended the Met Gala 2021, met his husband in 1986 at a fashion show and it was love at first sight.

In an interview with PEOPLE back in 2016, the designer said he could still vividly remember the moment their eyes met. The pair locked eyes while riding an elevator and Tom said by the end of that elevator journey, he knew he'd met the love of his life. 

He said, "By the time that elevator landed on the ground floor I thought, 'You’re the one.' That’s it. Click. Sold. It was literally love at first sight."

During a now famous speech, where he introduced Tom's GB Lifetime Award from the prestigious CFDA, Richard joked that he deserved the award for living with Tom as well as living with his career.

When Tom took to the stage, the adorable and cheeky banter continued between the pair, as he teased that Richard needn't have been nervous after all. Once the laughter subsided, the designer added that all jokes aside, his husband did deserve the award, because he, "would not be standing here today without him."

Only one month later, they were living together. They married in 2014 and welcomed their son Alexander John Buckley Ford, or Jack as he's known, in 2012.

The adorable couple took to parenthood as quickly as they fell in love. Richard told the Wall Street Journal Magazine in 2013 that his beloved husband was a very involved father.

He said, "Tom being Tom, all the clothes are folded in a drawer a certain way. He’s a 100 percent hands-on dad. He gets up at six every morning, gives Jack his bottle, changes him, washes him, plays with him, gets him dressed for the day."

On the secret to such an enduring relationship, Tom told PEOPLE, "If the person you’re with is someone you respect, who you believe has a great heart and a great soul, as good a heart and soul that you will ever find, don’t ever leave them, because you won’t find anyone better."