Haider Ackermann

Haider Ackermann (born 29 March 1971) is a Colombian-born French designer of ready-to-wear fashion. He lives in Paris, and is currently creative director of Canada Goose and Tom Ford.

Early life Born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1971, Ackermann was adopted at the age of nine months by a French Alsatian family. His adoptive father is a mapmaker. Ackermann spent his childhood in Ethiopia, Chad, Algeria and France before the family moved to the Netherlands when he was twelve.

After five months of internship with John Galliano, Ackermann worked as an assistant to one of his teachers, the Belgian designer Wim Neels. In the following years he worked for various brands, including Bernhard Willhelm and Patrick Van Ommeslaeghe before working as a designer for Mayerline.

Haider Ackermann, 2001–present In 2001, Ackermann created his own label and presented his first women's wear collection in March 2001 during Paris fashion week. His 2002 collection drew the attention of house Ruffo, premium leather clothing specialist, which hired him to direct the spring-summer collections and autumn-winter 2003 for Ruffo Research. In 2005, he signed with the Belgian group BVBA 32 and set up his studio in Paris.

Ackermann was one of the designers approached to succeed Galliano at Dior, after declining the proposed succession of Martin Margiela in 2009. In 2010, Karl Lagerfeld described him as his ideal successor at Chanel, and some commentators called him a "new Yves Saint-Laurent".

Influenced by cultural differences, Ackermann's fashion contrasts and blends dress codes. The simple cuts of his creations are often asymmetric and sewn of different materials. His creations have been worn by Tilda Swinton, Timothée Chalamet, Nastya Hevchuk, Penélope Cruz, Victoria Beckham, Janet Jackson and Kanye West.

In 2010, Ackermann launched a one-off menswear collection during the Pitti trade shows in Florence. Ackermann subsequently launched his first full menswear line that year. He also continued to run his own women’s and men’s lines concurrently with his job at Berluti.

Ackermann and Timothée Chalamet first met in Paris in 2017 at the request of Chalamet's agent Brian Swardstrom. Ackermann styled the actor for his first red carpet at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival. They have maintained a creative partnership since then, with Chalamet describing Ackermann as "one of [his] closest friends".

Tom Ford and Canada Goose, 2024–present Ackermann was appointed as creative director of both Canada Goose and Tom Ford in 2024.

Awards