Tom Ford's husband and fashion journalist, Richard Buckley, passed away at the age of 72.

A statement from Ford's representative read, Buckley "died of natural causes after a long illness," on September 19, Sunday night. It continued, "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," the statement concluded.

Tom Ford met Buckley in a 1986 New York fashion show, and they eventually wedded in 2014 after the States legalized same-sex, per Daily Mail.

 Three years later, Buckley got diagnosed with throat cancer and further went on with the surgery. Despite knowing that the procedure was fatal, the fashion editor pulled through and changed the couple's luck for the better.

Buckley In The World Of Fashion Journalism

According to the source, Buckley was born in 1948 in Binghamton, New York, and raised by a military family in the US, France, and Germany. And as he grew up, he studied at the University of Maryland in Munich, where he continued to pursue his career in journalism.

As reported by People, Buckley started his career in fashion journalism at New York Magazine in 1979. By 1982, he worked in Paris as a European editor of "Fairchild Publications' Daily News Record."

Ford's husband also worked as a European editor of "Mirabella" magazine, contributing editor at "Italian Vogue," and also editor-in-chief of "Vogue Hommes International."

The outlet also proclaimed that the couple most recently lived in London, New York, and Santa Fe. Ahead of their marriage, in 2012, Ford and Buckley welcomed their son, Jack, who was born via a surrogate.

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The Love At First Sight

The "A Single Man" director, Ford, recalled the time he met and fell for his husband on an interview with the same outlet back in 2016. "Our eyes locked and within a month we were living together," he said during an appearance on The Jess Cagle Interview.

"We have been together ever since."

And for three decades, Ford said he could "vividly" remember the first time he met Buckley in an elevator ride. "By the time that elevator landed on the ground floor I thought, 'You're the one.' That's it. Click. Sold," he said.

"It was literally love at first sight."

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