In Ackermann, the brand has pivoted to a designer who is deeply au fait with fashion’s limelight. A seasoned creative leader, he operated his eponymous label for nearly two decades until 2020. Karl Lagerfeld famously once nominated Ackermann as a possible future candidate to replace him at Chanel. That didn’t happen — or at least it hasn’t yet — although Ackermann was appointed by Antoine Arnault to a critically acclaimed stint at the helm of the LVMH-owned masculine maison Berluti.
So what will Ackermann, as an established star designer in his own right, bring to Tom Ford? The merging of his design with the codes of its founder represents an intriguing fashion prospect: both designers have respectively developed their own aesthetic dialects that, while highly distinct, also overlap in their blending of profound sensuality with strict rigour. Furthermore, Ackermann’s chief métier has always been womenswear, a category which the brand’s fashion licensee, Ermenegildo Zegna Group, is especially keen to grow. Another Ackermann attribute that overlaps with Ford is their adjacency to Hollywood — the designer is especially close to Tilda Swinton and Timothée Chalamet.
In April 2023, the sale of the Tom Ford brand was completed in a deal that saw his existing partners in beauty, eyewear and ready-to-wear assume control. Tom Ford International, the company formerly responsible for the Tom Ford fashion business, was fully acquired by the Milan-based Ermenegildo Zegna Group. The acquisition was part of a joint operation led by ELC, Tom Ford’s existing beauty partner, and Marcolin, its eyewear partner.
In a statement shared with Vogue Business, Ermenegildo ‘Gildo’ Zegna, chairman and CEO of Ermenegildo Zegna Group, said: “The Tom Ford fashion business has long had tremendous growth potential. The appointment of Haider as the brand’s new creative director will further strengthen the team we are building and makes me even more confident in the future of Tom Ford Fashion.” It is understood that Zegna’s prime ambition for Tom Ford ready-to-wear is to expand its womenswear sales, which, in 2023, accounted for 30 per cent of Tom Ford Fashion revenues.
Ackermann appears powerfully qualified both to navigate and drive that growth. His own much-lamented eponymous line came to a sudden and surprising halt in 2020. Since then, the designer — who, as a child, lived with his family in countries including Ethiopia, Chad, Algeria and The Netherlands — has been in a second phase of creative wandering. Recent employment has included roles at Maison Ullens, Fila and Canada Goose, as well as a deservedly lauded cameo season at Jean Paul Gaultier couture.
Now from Paris, Ackermann will enjoy a newly stable environment in which to develop his aesthetic around the foundations established by Tom Ford. Reflecting the structure of the brand, he will report to both Guillaume Jesel, president and CEO of Tom Ford and luxury business development at ELC, as well as Lelio Gavazza, CEO of Tom Ford Fashion at Ermenegildo Zegna Group.
Today, Jesel hailed Ackermann as “one of the world’s most visionary and inspiring talents in fashion”, adding: “He draws on his deep affinity for global culture and the arts to create arresting fashion and memorable emotional connections.” Gavazza added of Ackermann: “His renowned experience in luxury will be instrumental in driving the fashion business forward during its next important phase of expansion.”
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