With eye on Oscars, Tom Ford shows latest collection in Hollywood

Ford is the first high-profile designer to showcase a ready-to-wear collection in Los Angeles, but he reflects a growing fashion spotlight on the city.

Saint Laurent Paris' creative designer Hedi Slimane famously moved the Parisian label's design studios to Los Angeles in 2012. Louis Vuitton is currently hosting an exhibition through February in Hollywood that showcases inspirations behind its latest collection.

"LA is really coming into its own," Ford told Reuters backstage after the show. "It has a great vibe, space is less expensive, so if you are an artist, you can work more easily here than you could in New York or London."

Known for dressing a selection of men and one woman at the annual Oscars ceremony, Ford mused on the evolution of the red carpet, avidly watched for fashion hits and misses. His gowns have been worn to the ceremony in previous years by Paltrow and Julianne Moore.

Ford said while the red carpet was "very important" for the exposure it can give a designer, in recent years it had become "very safe and very predictable."

"I don't like when clothes wear a woman," he said. "The woman I've made a dress for this year knows that, so hopefully it's reflective of her character, her personality."