Fashion loves a drama, and nowhere was this felt more potently than at Haider Ackermann’s first Tom Ford show in Paris in March. This particular drama had been rolling since 2022, when Mr Tom Ford sold his namesake business to Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) in a $2.8bn deal.
Ford left the business in 2023 along with Domenico De Sole, chairman of Tom Ford International, but retained an unspoken influence over the brand’s succession plans. The first post-Ford Tom Ford designer, Peter Hawkings, had worked with Ford since 2006 (he started working for him at Gucci) but left after one year following rumours of a fall-out between the founder and his former right-hand man. In January, Ermenegildo Zegna Group (which operates the fashion business of Tom Ford) reported a 33.5 per cent growth in revenues to €314.5mn, from 2023-24.
Ackermann was appointed creative director in September 2024. A Colombian-born French designer best known for his own namesake label, he resigned from his company in 2020 following a reported dispute with his business partner. In the years since, he had done a few notable collaborations – with Augustinus Bader and Fila and as a guest designer for Jean Paul Gaultier – and was made creative director of Canada Goose. But his appointment to Tom Ford set the stage for a creative rebirth, a redemption and – one hoped – a benediction from the big man himself.
