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\n\tSince he was a child growing up in countries across Europe and Africa, Haider Ackermann has been an observer and a storyteller. An acclaimed creative director, and recipient of WWD\u2019s 2026 Honor for Womenswear Designer of the Year, Ackermann continues to channel his fascination with different cultures, customs and geographies into his collections for Tom Ford and Canada Goose.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe designer, who was born in Bogot\u00e1, Colombia, and who has lived in countries including Ethiopia, Chad, Algeria, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, said \u201cwhen you\u2019re a young child and you don\u2019t speak the language, you become the observer. You\u2019re looking at all the gestures, the different identities, and building your own stories and dreams. You are feeding your own imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDuring an interview with WWD Milan bureau chief Luisa Zargani, he said: \u201cAll this helped me to be the person I am now. I\u2019m still in my little world \u2014 nothing has changed \u2014 and all those observations, all those memories, become part of you. They become your story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAckermann recalled some of the diverse experiences he had growing up, and all of the culture clashes from \u201caustere Antwerp\u201d to Africa, which was full of color. \u201cI was always somewhere in between,\u201d he said, adding that all of those experiences shaped his aesthetics.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe recalled the veiled women in Muslim countries \u201clike ghosts walking around the walls of the Medina. As a child, you\u2019re curious about the person behind those veils and chadors. You\u2019re trying to find out who those women are and to understand them. Perhaps that\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to do in my job. I believe that I will never understand them, but at least I\u2019m trying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThat sense of wonder, and of being the outsider, continues to guide Ackermann\u2019s work, for Tom Ford in particular.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe said that even when Ford himself was designing, \u201cit was never only about clothes. He tried to build up a whole story. He was looking for attitude, gestures, a kind of elegance. When you look at the catwalk, and at what we\u2019re doing now, the clothes are [still] just a little fragment. I always start with the music. I know the songs in advance, I know what the hair and the makeup are going to be, and then suddenly the collection starts building up. It\u2019s quite cinematographic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAckermann, who joined Tom Ford in 2024, also wants his runway models to take part in the narrative and help create a sense of escapism during the shows.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIf, for 10 minutes, the crowd can forget about the noise outside, all the violence and their own problems, if they can dream about those handsome girls and boys who are passing in front of them [that is the goal]. We are there to talk about beauty and I think nowadays it\u2019s even more necessary than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAhead of every show Ackermann tells the models to \u201cplease enjoy that time, because it\u2019s your moment \u2014 just enjoy it and embrace it. You have those minutes to seduce, because the house is all about seduction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSeduction could be the Tom Ford house slogan. Ackermann said he could not refuse the seductive Ford when he called and offered him the job as creative director of the brand.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHe had this very sensual voice, but it was a strange moment because I did not even listen to him. I already knew what I was going to do. There was something very instinctive, almost animalistic about my response. I was already gone,\u201d said Ackermann, who also talked at length about his relationship with Ford; the company\u2019s owner, The Est\u00e9e Lauder Cos., and its long-term fashion licensee Ermenegildo Zegna Group and eyewear licensee Marcolin Group.<\/p>\n
\n\tWith Ford, \u201cWe have a dialogue. We have our private conversations \u2014 and they are very private. And no, we do not talk about work. He\u2019s given me carte blanche. He\u2019s busy with his own career, and he\u2019s doing really, really well. And I\u2019m trying to do my thing,\u201d Ackermann said.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe said Ford\u2019s collections \u201cwere very much about sexuality. I mean, it was back in the \u201990s, and that\u2019s also what made the whole thing exciting. I prefer to talk about sensuality. I\u2019m much more reserved than Mr. Ford, I\u2019m much more shy, as you can see. I\u2019m trying to find a kind of discretion in all of this. But you still have to play with the [house] codes. It\u2019s interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAckermann said there is a sense of complicity among all the stakeholders in the business. \u201cThey trust what I\u2019m doing, the direction I\u2019m taking. We all have the same vision, and are embracing this new journey [together].\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDespite that trust, the pressure is always on. \u201cYou feel the pressure every time you care about something, and I love what I\u2019m doing, I really do. I don\u2019t feel the pressure so much from them. I feel the pressure from myself. I want to satisfy Mr. Ford, who invited me on this journey, so that\u2019s my first goal. I\u2019m harder [on] myself than others are on me, because I care [so much].\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile Ackermann may be hard on himself, he\u2019s no taskmaster with his staff. The designer said he wants \u201ckindness\u201d to rule in his design studio.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s not enough of it, and I think that if we are all kind to each other, if we all believe in a dream, if we all stand by each other, we can achieve so much more. You can achieve, you can move walls with kindness. It may sound very naive, perhaps, but it\u2019s what I do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe derives great joy from designing clothing. \u201cThat is what makes me happy and what I embrace. There are many very talented people around this brand and I think there\u2019s more focus on real work, than on social media,\u201d compared with the past.<\/p>\n
\n\tAckermann also talked about his other, very different job as creative director of Canada Goose. \u201cI go from a [tailored] suit to a puffer jacket \u2014 it\u2019s a world apart,\u201d he said, adding that he loves traveling for work and the time he\u2019s able to spend in nature.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m getting older, and I want to be more in nature. Sometimes, when you go back to nature, you become closer to yourself. You\u2019re far away from home, you have the time to ask yourself the right questions, to breathe, to listen to your own voice and not to all the noise around you. It gives me calmness and serenity and I\u2019m very grateful to Canada Goose to give me those opportunities. We do the most beautiful expeditions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe\u2019s learning so much working for the outerwear brand. \u201cYou feel like a young kid, studying and learning everything. It makes your heart beat fast every morning,\u201d he said, adding that his own journey is just beginning. \u201cI want to achieve so much more, and I think my best years are yet to come. I feel ready for my future.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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