Domenico De Sole is chairman of Tom Ford International, the menswear brand that now includes beauty, accessories, fragrance and footwear. He is a lawyer by training, but made the transition to the fashion business when Gucci -- one of his clients -- hired him to join the company. That was in 1984. Over the next 20 years until his departure from Gucci in 2004, he engineered a remarkable turnaround, saving the company from hostile suitors and acquiring such key brands as Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen.
