The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
PARIS, France — Haider Ackermann loves a gang. The bullet-headed guys who rushed down his shadowy runway, muscles straining in their shiny finery and second-skin pants, were like baroque Wild Boys, dressing, the designer said, "in a madness to combine everything, no thoughts, just instinct," (although the designer's idea of chaos was actually just clashing plaids). Ackermann imagined his men as gypsies on the road, carrying everything they own with them ("Just like me," he murmured). Humble that may sound, but there's not enough drama in humility for Ackermann. So he layered and gilded and shrunk a handful of menswear tropes to his usual decadent effect. His most sartorial pieces looked licked by hellfire.
This week brings Ackermann’s debut at Berluti, the all-black invitation the very antithesis of the appetite for excess he paraded in his own collection. Maybe that’s why it felt more exaggerated than before, infused with a sense of flagrant release to counter his new more sober responsibilities.
From where aspirational customers are spending to Kering’s challenges and Richemont’s fashion revival, BoF’s editor-in-chief shares key takeaways from conversations with industry insiders in London, Milan and Paris.
BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks and Imran Amed, BoF founder and editor-in-chief, look back at the key moments of fashion month, from Seán McGirr’s debut at Alexander McQueen to Chemena Kamali’s first collection for Chloé.
Anthony Vaccarello staged a surprise show to launch a collection of gorgeously languid men’s tailoring, writes Tim Blanks.
BoF’s editors pick the best shows of the Autumn/Winter 2024 season.