Today felt like a day for Ackermann, you know, if you feel like having your heart strings played something like Nina Simone. All the important juxtapositions are there, simplicity / complexity, classic / innovative.  It’s not one of those collections that comes bolting through the door singing and dancing, more the one you catch a glimpse of through the glass and spend the rest of the day lusting after… in other words, it’s subtle.  But jeez that guy can cut cloth and wrap cloth.  He doesn’t make dresses, and trousers, he makes category crossing things.  Is it a tux? Is it a dress?  Why would you want to decide?

(images: style.com)

Haider Ackermann

I can’t believe it took me this long to figure out that the familiar face I saw in the Paris show was Haider Ackermann. I was wracking my brains, trying to place him. Eventually and with a little help from the Sartorialist it came back to me. The closest I’ve come to being starstruck I think, silly I know. He has that cool laid back style that I love (and think I love more now). To see his awesome work I did a couple of posts a while ago here and here. You can see him at the bottom of the second post with Tilda Swinton. Enjoy!

Oversized or delicately designed hoods, there is so much to love.

A Hijab History

A look in to his past seasons show that his love of understated luxury and exquisite design has always been a big part of his aesthetic. His style is investment pieces rather than changing with the tide of trends, and I think if your going to spend that kind of money then it should be just that.

The hoods are so close to being headscarves it’s hard not to see the comparison with Islamic fashion. I would love to wear one of these stunning hoods, they look so elegant.

Sheer and metallic fabrics with all the fine drape Ackermann does best

Still So Fresh

These past seasons still look fresh and have those long lasting trends that never go out of style. I love his colour combinations which are so refined and grown up, but the dramatic cuts and shapes mean they are as far from dowdy as they can be.

I love the blue maxi dress, it's stunning and perfectly hijab fiendly.

Get the Look

Super Size Try oversized tops and jackets, wrap them and tie with a belt but fold the fabric over the belt to hide body shape.

Tone Down Keep colours to a minimum, take one colour and play around with shades close to it.

Texture Because you’re keeping colours straightforward you can go wild with texture. Sheers, satin and metalics make great accents.

Layer The key is Layering, get a basic look and then add on sheer layers or interesting drape. (Top Tip: take a lightweight jacket/cardigan or wrap dress and wear it upside down, you’ll get a really interesting shape.)

Tilda Swinton looks stunning in this Ackermann outfit proving that you really can wear the looks right off the runway

Celebrity Following

Tilda Swinton is a huge fan of Ackermann, she has often worn his creations at award ceremonies and it goes to show that his style is timeless and ageless. I think she looks gorgeous!

Tilda Swinton is a huge Ackermann fan, and we can see why!

Images nymag and style.com

Sublime Subtlety

Modest, beautiful and excruciatingly well crafted, Haider Ackermann is one of my favourite designers. His designs are always edgy and always graceful a melting pot of delicious flavours and textures. From a hijab perspective there is so much to choose from, his softly draped jackets and leather work rival Rick Owens. And not only are the pieces beautiful in themselves he knows how to put an outfit together, layering textures and different colour notes of the same tone. There is so much inspiration for Islamic fashion.

I honestly tried to put this all in one post but there was just too much I wanted to show you. I could easily have done a week of posts, but I did try to restrain myself, honest

For Future Reference

Fall 2009 was my favourite collection. There was the rich beautiful red, blacks and greys that were exciting without a hint of being dull. Fabrics that make my heart flutter slightly especially when he drapes them the way he does. The Asymmetric shapes look so exquisite, but you can tell that these were clothes designed to be worn, the fit is perfect. From maxi dresses to beautiful separates there is so much to love, the long line maxi skirts are simple but so chic.

History

His biography may hint at the unique aesthetic that is a part of him, he is a Colombian-born, Antwerp-trained Frenchman. That’s why I found this interview with Elisabetta Maze for noname-magazine so interesting, I’ve taken a few highlights. You can find the whole interview here.

INTERVIEW WITH HAIDER ACKERMANN
by Elisabetta Maze

He has known many ports, beside the one of the town in which he lives and works today: Antwerp. Born in Santa Fe’, Bogotá, in 1971, the designer Haider Ackermann was adopted by a French family. He grew up living in various cities throughout Europe and Africa. Due to his father’s work as a cartographer, the family moved several times during his childhood, living in places such as Ethiopia, Chad, France and Algeria, before finally settling in the Netherlands… Ackermann’s distinctive essence takes shape in a mix of high and low culture, elegance and street life. He is intrigued by cultural differences and cultural force: the purity and simple aesthetic of forms mixed with the activity and vitality of life itself.

You were born in Santa Fe’ de Bogotá, Columbia. With French parents, you grew up in various cities, spending your childhood in Europe and Africa, before fina settling in the Netherlands. Is there any episode from your childhood which has marked and influenced your creative development?
How much have your origins and travels influenced your collections? And in what way?
Those memories of Africa, they are all in you as a vague dream…it fades away, but is nevertheless present. It’s simply a part of you and your references. And unconsciously, when you draw or fantasize the images of chadors, djellabas, kaftans, sarouels, they are clearing up.

In 1994, at the end of high school, you decided to move to Belgium to attend the prestigious Academy of Antwerp. When did you really understand that fashion would be your future?
I didn’t know if it would be my future, but I knew I had to try. Why else would I have played with fabrics in my childhood and observed all those African ‘Giacometti’ women in their metres of cotton.

Would you define yourself as an avant-garde designer? Which adjectives would you use to describe your style and yourself?
It has never been my goal to be an avant-garde designer and it certainly would not reflect my personality. My aesthetics are certainly not revolutionary and eye-catching. It’s more about discreet, muted colours, about searching for a certain luxury of not caring, but also trying to respect and not take away the attention from the woman’s face with clothes or decoration…
I can’t and don’t want to define what I do, I’d rather leave it open for people to interpret it as they feel.

Do you consider yourself “revolutionary” in fashion? Can fashion still have a political ambition?
It is not up to me to send out messages, I just try to make nice clothes.

In Part 2

Highlights of his past collections

His Celebrity Following

How to recreate the look for a Muslimah if you aren’t famous of wealthy!