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Haider Ackermann: King Tweed “I was thinking about the failures of life,” Haider Ackermann said, after perhaps the most polished, yet romantic, show he has ever created. “It’s all about tweed; how it gets old and you have to repair it,” the designer explained backstage, where even the models were dancing with joy.  Picture credit: Indigital If that show was a ‘failure’, it is hard to imagine ‘success’. For in this collection, Haider took the theme of the unfinished, which has always been an important part of his repertoire, and tidied up that idea into elegant clothes. Very elegant.  Picture credit: Indigital It all started with the runway – a black and white graphic pattern that was replicated in a streamlined checkered dress (high heels essential) with a drape at the neck and an insert of larger check at the waist. Another coat streamlined down over a pair of narrow trousers.  Picture credit: Indigital It was the way that the ‘repairs’ were worked into the tweed that made the effect. There were rough, red basting stitches like a trickle of blood at the back of a jacket; or more intentionally clumsy stitches around a jacket lapel. Yet all was luxe and calm for the total picture. Towards the end, a glint of gilding invited a question. Was it really, as the designer said after the show, all in tweed? After witnessing animal prints and a symphony of fabrics worked into a flirty skirt, I just suspended disbelief about the tweed and enjoyed the experience. I particularly liked an apparently simple white blouse with distressed ruffles foaming on the surface and more of that blood-red stitching.  Picture credit: Indigital I then thought of Coco Chanel as the Queen of Tweed and how Karl Lagerfeld once identified Haider as the one designer who might be capable of taking over after him at Chanel. I asked Haider if he had thought of Chanel while designing this collection and he broke into a peal of laughter. “I never thought about it,” he said – and that is probably true. (责任编辑：admin) |