Haider Ackermann was up to his old tricks tonight. The cheeky devil held a fashion show mostly in the dark. You could see the loose tartan jackets flowing over the tight leather pants, the floaty checked jackets (on women) over second-skin leggings, and the deep-V velveteen brocade dresses over nothing but a serious attitude. You had to stare to see these clothes, and when you stared what you got was the contours of some harlequin leggings bulging forth, or a suit, or a mixed-material jacket dissected by a strafing of white thread and yarn. Slightly shockingly, Ackermann also did two read-it-and-weep perfect double-breasted banker suits.
Usher was there and we were, too, and it was a beautiful show—despite being held in the dark. Ackermann’s Berluti gig kicks off on Friday, which perhaps lent this an air of a retrospective. But everyone in the audience who howled for Haider from day one howled again here, in delight that he has found a place for himself near the peak of the LVMH escarpment.
