Haider Ackermann is your favorite fashion designer’s favorite fashion designer; he’s a go-to for stars willing to make a big statement on the red carpet, like Timothée Chalamet and Tilda Swinton. His name regularly comes up for open creative director gigs, thanks to his sharp eye for color, sleek tailoring, and unique design sensibilities. So it would be a slight understatement to say that Ackermann’s guest stint designing the Jean Paul Gaultier spring 2023 haute couture collection was the most anticipated runway of the season for fashion insiders. When Gaultier himself decided to retire in 2020, he began inviting other designers to bring their vision to his atelier, with names like Y/Project’s Glenn Martens, Sacai’s Chitose Abe, and Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing all taking turns at a JPG couture collection.
Ackermann’s collaboration, which debuted in Paris on Wednesday, exemplified fashion magic. Everything about the collection—from the anticipation to the execution—felt like the kinds of fashion shows you only hear about in passed-down legends. Even the models were a throwback to a time of capital-F fashion, slowly strutting down the runway, twirling and taking long pauses to better show off the garments.
If there was any doubt that Ackermann’s somewhat minimalist aesthetic would play well with Gaultier’s more-is-more approach, fear not: Severe black dresses and floor-sweeping coats featured peacock-bright teal and green silk linings, and men’s overcoats and tracksuits alike were covered in layers of metallic sequins like tinsel on a Christmas tree.
Ackermann’s take on eveningwear mixed the structural and the fluid, from long, flowing trains on slick gowns to a bright orange silk jumpsuit finished in a giant bow. The “bride” wore a tight-fitting jumpsuit covered in embellishment to have the effect of being scaled, covered with a white cape and matching headpiece—simple, yet incredibly striking.
Monsieur Gaultier himself sat front row (squeezed between Edward Enninful and French film legend Catherine Deneuve), smiling the whole time. Both Chalamet and Swinton attended, as well as Kylie Jenner and Doja Cat; the Bones and All star exchanged delighted looks with director Baz Luhrmann throughout the show, which means the countdown to one of these looks appearing on his next red carpet starts now.
The collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier isn’t officially an audition to take over any fashion houses, to be sure—and who knows if Ackermann himself would even be interested in such a role (which are notably more grueling on creative directors than ever). But it would be surprising if this collection didn’t rocket his name to the top of a few more lists.
Regardless of what opportunities might arise, though, the Jean Paul Gaultier spring 2023 haute couture collection definitively proved that Ackermann is one of the most talented designers working today.
