Designer Profile: Who is Haider Ackermann?
Haider Ackermann’s collection for Jean Paul Gaultier was indisputably the most anticipated show in Paris Couture Fashion Week, spring 2023 season.
Ever since Gaultier’s retirement from the runway in 2020, Ackermann has joined the likes of Olivier Rousteing (Balmain), Glen Martens (Diesel and Y/Project) and Chitose Abe (Sacai) in his contribution towards the yearly guest-designed Gaultier couture collection, leading to a renewed interest in his work.
Ackermann has been celebrated for his raw talent in fashion long before his collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier. Having received a Swiss Textile Award and Fashion Group International Award for Design, he is a decorated designer with an impressive résumé. Being the former creative director of Berluti, Ackermann has been approached to lead several design houses, such as Dior and Maison Margiela, and was even described as Lagerfeld’s ideal successor at Chanel by Karl himself. Descriptions like a “new Yves Saint-Laurent” have, however, not come easily to Ackermann. In his pursuit of a fashion design degree at the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Art in Antwerp, he was expelled in 1997 for failing to complete his assignments. Ackermann attributes this to his constant strive for perfection – he felt unable to produce collections which met his standards. Designing Gaultier’s guest couture collection this year has granted Ackermann complete access to the Gaultier atelier in Paris, allowing him to “go nuts” with all the resources available.
Ackermann has said that his designs are “progressive and avant-garde,” and he has “pushed the envelope in culture and society as a whole, above and beyond fashion. If one follows fashion, you follow Jean Paul Gaultier,” said Ackermann, calling his new position “an immense honour.”
Image Credits: Flickr.
In three words, Ackermann’s designs are dynamic, intricate and tailored. His work is influenced by his global upbringing, particularly the discord of cultural differences. His close collaborator Timothée Chalamet models the fluidity of Ackermann’s designs better than any runway show can. Given Chalamet’s notoriety as one of Hollywood’s “most thrilling red carpet dressers,” his return to Ackermann’s designs throughout the years is testament to this designer’s ingenuity. Examples include the belted silver satin suit which Chalamet wore to the premiere of The King in 2019, to his backless halter jumpsuit at the premiere of Bones and All, called his “most daring red carpet look yet” by Vogue. This collaboration does not end on the red carpet; it has evolved into a close friendship with shared values. Chalamet shared on Instagram that the pair had “been wanting to make something for a couple of years now,” and the result of this endeavour was a hoodie for Afghan Women’s Rights. It was designed in December 2021 and 100% of the proceeds from this hoodie went to Afghanistan Libre, a French organisation which strives to protect Afghan women’s rights.
Ackermann has often been described as a designer’s designer, and his couture collection for Gaultier is no exception. Interplaying his personal minimalist aesthetic with Gaultier’s more-is-more mentality, Ackermann’s collection stays very true to who he is. Past collections have consisted of minimalist, predominantly black and white garments with exceptional tailoring, maximalist silhouettes and complicated constructions.
Image Credits: Vogue.
It is easy to understand the praise for his “sophisticated colour sense,” with a few vibrant choices cropping up throughout this collection. Before this show, Gaultier expressed that he had “always loved Haider’s work, especially on the tailoring,” and expressed his certainty that his couture would be “remarkable”.
When asked to describe his collection, Ackermann returns to the word purity. He uses this to describe his experience in the atelier and as an attempt to honour the work of the seamstresses. In addition, he uses it to describe his “absolute idealised version of reality” which he tries to reflect through this collection as well as to describe his gender-fluid fashion style. In the past, Ackermann’s shows have been described as “all fluidity and grace,” with the summer 2010 show being the epitome of this. For Ackermann, the innovation does not end there. In an interview with Phillip Utz, Ackermann describes his reasoning for including men’s and women’s wear in the same runway show – “I really like this exchange, this moment of sharing between men and women. They experience a love story.” An example of the humanism in his work is shown through his nod to Iran during the Gaultier runway show by including the song “Baraye” by Shervin Hajipour in his soundtrack – a song written about the women’s rights protests in Iran following the killing of Mahsa Amini in September of 2022. On this, Ackermann simply said “it’s a human message,” and that when considering haute couture, “you can’t not think about every other woman and her right to freedom, too.”
Despite the gender-fluidity of his designs, there is very little information on the designer’s sexuality. Ackermann is a private person, and does not enjoy press intrusions into his personal life. To speak more generally, Ackermann has frequently shown support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Image Credits: British GQ.
Following the Fila x Ackermann collaboration which debuted in Manchester in late 2022, Ackermann and his guests piled into the infamous G.A.Y. club on Canal Street to celebrate the show. In his interview with Utz, the pair joked that Ackermann had “just left an afterparty at Mec Zone,” a gay club nearby, before conducting their interview. In response to this, Ackermann said “You’re outrageous! Next question.” It seems as though Ackermann’s private life will stay private, and rightly so.
Where Gaultier is the ‘enfant terrible’ of French fashion, celebrated for provocation and maximalism, Ackermann focuses on humanism and minimalism in his designs. Thus, the collaboration between the two was described by Ackermann as “an interesting exercise,” but the result was something truly unique and exemplary. Following on from the successes of this show, Ackermann may receive new opportunities at his own brand or elsewhere. With open roles as Louis Vuitton’s menswear lead and the top job at Gucci, Haider Ackermann is one to watch out for.
