Paris Fashion Week marked a pivotal moment for the Tom Ford maison as Haider Ackermann unveiled his much-anticipated debut collection for Fall/Winter 2025-2026. With the weight of Ford’s legacy of unapologetic glamour looming over his appointment, Ackermann approached the house’s evolution with quiet precision, shifting the narrative from overt sensuality to a more restrained yet deeply sophisticated allure.

Eschewing direct references to Ford’s signature aesthetic, the collection established its own language through a study of purity in form. Daywear set the tone, rendered in a sharp monochrome palette punctuated by deliberate flashes of red, where sculpted leather silhouettes became a foundation for understated power dressing. As the collection transitioned into eveningwear, Ackermann’s mastery of color and fluidity unfolded—a spectrum of acid yellow, ice blue, and ethereal lilac redefined the house’s traditionally darker codes.

While black remained an anchor, reinterpreted in razor-sharp tailoring and draped suiting, Ackermann explored sensuality through subtle yet potent gestures. Plunging jumpsuits, mesh-textured gowns, and liquid satin detailing embraced an effortless elegance, while tuxedo jackets and fringed cocktail dresses exuded modern decadence. His approach to allure was controlled, refined—imbued with an intellectual sensuality rather than an overt display of excess.

Rejecting a simplistic translation of “sexy” or “glamour,” Ackermann instead proposed an evolution, one that bridges Tom Ford’s cinematic opulence with his own poetic restraint. The result was a collection that felt like a whisper rather than a proclamation—intoxicating in its quiet confidence, signaling a new era where elegance is not just worn, but felt.