James Ford

Ford was born and raised in Kentucky. In 2009 he moved to Fort Collins, Colorado. Ford was a high school athlete playing basketball, baseball, soccer and track, achieving many notable awards and distinctions. In 2013, he graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Construction Engineering. He later earned an M.A. from the University of Southern California in Fashion Journalism in 2017.

Ford worked in commercial fashion for the luxury cashmere brand, the Elder Statesman, an LA-based workwear company Hedley & Bennett, among other brands. In 2020, he started his own line, Rowena Social Club, where he remains the President and Creative Director. The brand is an e-comm clothing and apparel line, focusing on serving the LGBTQ market both in the U.S. and internationally. Since then, he has styled and designed for many celebrities, including Beth Dover (Orange Is the New Black), Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Andrew McMahon (Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin), ND Stevenson (Nimona), and Fortune Feimster (Handsome podcast, Netflix).

Ford was a contestant on Season 2 of Netflix's Next in Fashion, hosted by Gigi Hadid and Tan France. His work captured the heart of fashion luminaries such as Donatella Versace, Jason Bolden, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Isabel Marant, Helena Christensen, and Emma Chamberlain. Ford appeared in five episodes and was eliminated during the fifth challenge. The decision was an emotional moment on the show, and the hosts visibly struggled to dismiss him from the competition.

Ford published two seasons totaling 9 episodes of his podcast, Outfit, which explores the relationship of the LGBTQ community and their clothing. This served as his Master's Thesis in Fashion Journalism, from 2017-2019. His podcast went on to be featured on Elle Canada's Top 9 Best Fashion Podcasts of 2019, alongside the Gucci podcast during Alessandro Michele's era, Barney's, and "Wardrobe Crisis".