The Dark Knight

We shed light on Haider Ackermann’s seductive debut at Berluti

- Chia Wei Choong

 THROWBACK TO JANURARY at the Grand Palais in Paris. Haider Ackermann was about to debut his hotly anticipated AW17 collection for Berluti as its new creative director. His own label had already earned cult status, garnering him a reputation as one of fashion’s most poetic designers. His languid tailoring, ‘fall-apart’ layers, together with his penchant for luxuriously distressed fabrications has made him a favourite with Tilda Swinton, one of the most daring dressers on the red carpet. Her attandance at Ackermann’s debut caused a scene as attendees and photographers swarmed to catch glimpses and snapshots of the statuesque actress.

Ostensibly, Swinton’s signature androgynous style permeated the Berluti runway as female models marched out with the boys in tailoring and low-slung trousers. Ackermann’s push towards a genderless wardrobe aims to break down the perception of Berluti as an exclusively men’s label. Starting out as a maker of hand-finished custom footwear in 1895, Berluti steadily expanded its business into small leather goods. In 2011, it introduced its first menswear collection.