VIEW FROM THE FRONT ROW: HAIDER ACKERMANN SS19
 Gender-fluid silhouettes, high-shine textiles, and razor-sharp motifs

PHOTOGRAPHY TED BELTON

We were up close and personal at Haider Ackermann's Spring-Summer 2019 show, his first to combine menswear and womenswear. When asked about this decision, he remarked that it “reflects a desire to stage a new balance between the two collections,” and effectively, a new balance between genders themselves. Indeed, Ackermann showed gender-fluid silhouettes, demonstrating that his solution to androgyny is to provide men with more fluid, elegant options, rather than to contain women to strict suiting. For spring, he turned the light on: There were high-shine textiles with highlighter-bright pops of colour, sharp laser-cut leathers, layers of transparency, and stunning sundial embroidery.