2
2
Haider Ackermann transcends Tom Ford’s porno chic
On Wednesday, October 1st, 2025, Haider Ackermann presented his second runway show for Tom Ford. A Spring/Summer 2026 collection blending bold luxury and graphic sensuality, which reignites the brand’s image.
Porno chic, Tom Ford’s signature
On Wednesday 1st of October, one of Fashion Week’s most exclusive shows took place on Place Vendôme. For his second outing with the Tom Ford Spring/Summer 2026 collection, Haider Ackermann achieved a remarkable feat… Transcending porno chic, which has been the trademark of the house’s eponymous founder, created in 2005.
Iconic feature of the early 2000s, porno chic came to prominence in the Spring/Summer 2003 collection. Then artistic director of Gucci, Tom Ford, who was Gucci’s creative director back then, enlisted stylist Carine Roitfeld and photographer Mario Testino for an explicit campaign that would make history. The image of Carmen Kaas, naked but for Gucci, her pubic hair shaved into a G as she is about to get a cunnilingus, would go down in the annals. With this bold trio, the industry was revolutionised by a simple idea – sex sells.
But times change, and so do morals. Twenty years later, porno chic seemed dead and buried. But it was without counting on Haider Ackermann. At 54, the designer, known for his sensual, graphic aesthetics, succeeded the Texan designer a year ago. Back then, who would have bet on this free spirit to breathe new life into porno chic?
Haider Ackermann, a sexy and graphic aesthetics
If timing is everything, it is all the more so in fashion. As an industry shaped by the ebb and flow of trends, it must constantly reinvent itself by propelling certain aesthetics to the top, while pushing the previous ones into the background. This Fashion Week has finally buried the overly beige, dreary quiet luxury of past seasons… And it’s all for the better.
But the return to bold, flamboyant creativity alone does not explain the success of the Tom Ford Spring/Summer 2026 show. What won us over last night was Haider Ackermann’s nonchalant elegance, which he delicately infused into the brand’s exuberant heritage.
A graduate of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, the French-Colombian designer launched his label in 2001 with the support of Raf Simons. Thinking outside the box, he created collections defined by precise tailoring and sensual nomadism. For nearly two decades, until he stopped runways after the Covid-19 pandemic, his graphic, poetic style captivated fashion professionals. Until then, it was hard to associate his universe with anything overtly sexy. That shift came in 2022, when he dressed Timothée Chalamet in a satin backless top at the Venice Film Festival. From that moment on, Haider Ackermann started to offer a new vision of seduction.
Luxury in seduction mode
Where Tom Ford’s porno chic could feel aggressive, even menacing, Haider Ackermann’s approach is more subtle. “Seduction is a dialogue, triggered by a glance. To seduce means to bring someone close, drawing a gaze, enticing touch. Desire is anchored in the spirit of this house, diffused like an intoxicating perfume in the rooms where I keep on dancing,” the designer explained in a statement about the collection.
Think of a graphic jacket paired with a long, see-through skirt revealing a thong. Fluid suits in vibrant hues worn directly against the skin. Second-skin, sultry dresses, pencil skirts in glossy leather radiating elegance. As for men, think of flowing fabrics giving models a captivating casualness. To cite Baudelaire, all is “luxury, calm, and pleasure” here.
All the looks from the Tom Ford Spring/Summer 2026 show
