There were two ways to find out Haider Ackermann’s favorite Tom Ford-designed collections ahead of his first show for the house of Ford in Paris on the night of March 5th. In a week of three big debuts—Julian Klausner at Dries Van Noten; Sarah Burton at Givenchy; and Ackermann at Ford—there has been no end of guessing and imagining what they might present. One option: gaze into a crystal ball and hope that maybe, I don’t know, look 6 from Ford’s Gucci finale show in 2004 might come into view. (I wouldn’t recommend that though.) The other was more direct: Just ask him.
PICTURE THIS
Ackermann at work—with mood boards of inspiration—at the Tom Ford offices in London. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Sittings Editor: Tabitha Simmons. Vogue, March 2025.
On the mood board, top right: Szymon Roginski. Third row, right: © 2025 The Peter Hujar Archive/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Images on the wall, far right: © The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS, London/ARS, NY 2025. Produced by AL Studio and Farago Projects.
Back when I met with Ackermann late last year for this story that ran in Vogue’s March 2025 issue, he revealed himself to be someone with a deep, deep liking and admiration for Ford professionally and personally, but also blessed with enough distance to be able to see his own aesthetic as complementary to, but also distinctive enough from, the label’s charismatic, starry founder, which seems a vital way to navigate taking on the mantle of another designer.
“When you think about Tom Ford, you think about the night,” said Ackermann. “But perhaps I am more the morning after: still wearing the tuxedo shirt, but with a cashmere coat and loafers.” He dropped a few other hints as to what he was thinking: Elegance, eccentricity, and—words which profoundly resonate in both Ackermann’s and Ford’s worlds—seduction and desire. (And if you really want to see where else these designers also align, you could go back to my colleague Laird Borrelli-Persson’s brilliantly forensic compare and contrast of their collections.)
With less than 24 hours to go before his debut, Ackermann emailed. First of all, he wrote, he’d been “reflecting on Tom Ford’s most impactful collections. I see not only his impact on fashion but his influence on my own creative evolution. His time at Gucci, Saint Laurent, and his own label, exhibited an uncompromising artistic vision. That’s the balance I’m striving for.” What follows are the collections Ackermann particularly finds inspiring. Let’s see how they might influence that debut of his…
Gucci Fall 1996
“This marked Tom Ford’s arrival as a transformative force [in fashion]. Its sensual minimalism redefined modern luxury—fluid yet structured, restrained yet emotionally charged. His precision in tailoring and understanding of desire through concealment and revealment resonate with me.”
Saint Laurent Fall 2001
“This collection showcased his ability to use color and texture as emotional languages. His reinterpretation of house codes wasn’t mere homage but reinvention, proving tradition can be a foundation rather than a limitation.”
Tom Ford, Fall 2011
“With his September 2010 launch of his womenswear in New York, Tom Ford revolutionized presentation formats, where he favored intimacy over spectacle. His belief was that luxury is about experience, not excess—a philosophy that’s shaping my own approach.
