The November attacks were just three months ago, but there’s been not much talk about them in Paris this week. Maybe it’s the pressure to produce new material or to look upbeat in the face of a tough situation. To soldier on. There was a little bit of that idea in Haider Ackermann’s army jackets today. But more so, he was after ways to create joy. “It’s a tough world outside and I want to have this gracefulness, this brightness, happiness,” he said afterwards. “To show the other side of what we are confronted with every day.” To get the job done, Ackermann turned to velvet and sparkle and in the process landed on two of the season’s running themes.
The collection felt like an evolution of Ackermann’s Spring show, if not as strong as that outing. Where last season he used electric pastels, here the colors were more autumnal: red, copper, a deep bottle green. There was a velvet evening column, the hem of which scooped up to the hip above the left thigh. Ciara, who sat front row, could rock one on the red carpet. But like Ackermann said backstage, it’s the everyday that he’s concerned with, so more often the designer played down velvet’s preciousness. Key pieces included a quilted bed jacket in dusty rose, a fluid unstructured trench in that emerald green, and crinkly red velvet pants with the hip-hugging shape of jeans. Pants were low slung and different colors front and back (a little tricky) or crept north towards the rib cage. Ackermann showed one elegant high-waisted pair with an army green wool camisole and a matching jacket slipping off one shoulder. Sparkle entered the picture via dandy tomboy tailoring in tweeds and jacquards embroidered with sequins or shot through with Lurex.
If and when color and sparkle fail, there’s always Bhutan. Ackermann is headed there for his holiday.
