Haider Ackermann Takes Design Lead at Tom Ford Fashion
Haider Ackermann now leads design across every category at Tom Ford Fashion, from tailoring to eyewear, WWD reported on 27 October 2026. As creative director, he oversees menswear, womenswear, accessories and eyewear for the label. Tom Ford Fashion is a division of Ermenegildo Zegna Group, the Italian luxury group.
The appointment is not new in its first form. WWD reported in 2024 that Ackermann had been named creative director of Tom Ford following the exit of Peter Hawkings. The October 2026 report describes him as taking on the wider design leadership of the business.
The label's latest figures give some sense of the size of the business he now runs. In the nine months ended 30 September 2026, Tom Ford Fashion revenues totalled EUR 226.4 million, up 3.5 percent, WWD reported. Sales in the third quarter rose 5.4 percent to EUR 69.6 million.
Ackermann, who was born in Bogota, Colombia, studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. He launched his own namesake label in 2001 and closed it in 2020. From 2017 to 2018 he was creative director of Berluti, the French men's shoe and leather house. In 2024 he was also named to lead design at Canada Goose, the Canadian outerwear brand.
His work has also reached beyond his own names. In January 2023 he designed the spring 2023 haute couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier as a rotating guest designer. Haute couture is the most exclusive level of fashion, made to measure by hand. In 2022 he staged a one-off runway show with Fila in Manchester, England.
This week he also received a prize. WWD named him the recipient of its 2026 Honor for Womenswear Designer of the Year. The honour is part of the annual WWD Honors programme, and the gala that recognises its honourees takes place on 27 October at Cipriani. The same honourees include Morris Goldfarb, who is associated with G-III, and Michael Rider.
For a reader outside the fashion world, the story is about who makes the clothes and accessories a famous name sells. A creative director sets the look of each season and oversees the designers who draw it. At Tom Ford Fashion, that job now covers four categories at once.
