Lean yet never mean at Haider Ackermann

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Sep 30, 2017

It’s a rite of passage of all true fashionistas to attend a Saturday morning show by Haider Ackermann, one of fashion’s great purists.

French fashion royalty in the front-row – from Caroline de Maigret and Daniel de la Falaise to Harumi Klossowska and Lou Doillon. And, a proper superstar too - Kourtney Kardashian, who arrived with two immense, eagle-eyed personal security staff.
 
They all got to witness a ravishingly austere display of fashion; which opened with a half dozen surgically cut looks in red, from long priestly coats to neat belted tuxedos – all anchored by some striking, enormously pointed pony-boots. The look was posh rock star with lots of polish. Created completely free of prints, the collection’s most beautiful looks were made in classy combinations of jet black, ecru and blood red – whether floating dusters or a series of tops in perfectly interlocking tentacles of silk.

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Attending an Ackermann is rather a spiritual experience, from the clarity of the clothes to the church-like music – in this instance Max Richter’s On the Nature of Daylight.
 
“I was breathless, it was all so amazing!” whispered Kourtney to Haider as they posed for photos backstage. Turning to a group of editors, Ackermann explained: “I wanted sharpness, linear and graphic, though with lots of sensuality. But less razor cut, since life is like a razor cut at the moment,” smiled Ackermann.
 
The late great Pierre Bergé liked to tell everyone that it took 15 years before the house of Yves Saint Laurent broke even. Citing that as an example of how in today’s fashion industry financial backers are not prepared to make that sort of long-term commitment.
 
Deep in the backstage, Anne Chapelle, Ackermann’s CEO and backer showered compliments on the designer, even as she revealed that the house still is not profitable. A remarkable fact as it retails in 280 doors worldwide, an impressive figure for such a directional creator. And good example that Bergé’s example is being followed, at least by Chapelle.