Polimoda Duets with Haider Ackermann
On the occasion of Pitti Immagine Uomo 99 on PittiConnect and curated by Polimoda, the newest episode of Polimoda Duets, a series of documentary interview videos involving some of the most outstanding cultural figures of our time, features fashion designer Haider Ackermann. This exclusive video interview will be released on Thursday, April 8th at 2pm on the Pitti Connect platform and will be shared on both Pitti and Polimoda social media channels.

Born in Colombia, Paris-based designer Haider Ackermann is a draping virtuoso with an envious avant-garde aesthetic. During his thought-provoking conversation with Filep Motwary, Editor-at-Large of Vogue Greece, Curator, Author and Fashion Critic, Ackermann chats about the need for fashion, the lessons he’s learned over the course of his 20-year career and what makes a collection great.

"Fashion is a necessity. Fashion is culture," states Ackermann at the beginning of his Polimoda Duets. "Culture is essential. We need to read, we need to listen to music, we need to look at movies, we need to feel alive. It is an essential necessity. It all leads to a dream. Let’s keep on dreaming."

Growing up in Ethiopia, Chad, Algeria, France and the Netherlands, Ackermann soaked in the culture of different countries during his formative years. “The strangest thing is that I never thought of being a fashion designer. When you live in the countries that I lived in, I was simply seduced by fabrics.”

In the early 90s, Haider studied fashion design in Antwerp before starting his own brand twenty years ago. Today, he doesn't think fashion should be spelled out for the viewer. "There’s no explanation needed. Once the clothes leave the catwalk, it belongs to the audience," explains Haider. "It belongs to them. It’s important that they buy it and wear it and make it their own and transform it. They duplicate it and they destroy it with humor and seriousness and with love and that’s important."

In 2004, Haider won the Swiss Textiles Award and in 2012, he was presented the Fashion Group International Award by Karl Lagerfeld.He was named creative director of Berluti in 2016 and collaborated on three luxurious seasons before departing from the LVMH-owned brand. "I’m always in conflict with myself. This is my personal driving force and I hope it will be forever."

The video is part of the Polimoda Duets series that has already featured Marina Abramović, Marco Bizzarri, Linda Loppa, Margherita Maccapani Missoni, John Rankin, Lidewij Edelkoort, Mobolaji Dawodu, Rick Owens, Tim Blanks, Beatrice Venezi, Vanessa Friedman, Iris van Herpen and Dries Van Noten. With this Duets project, Polimoda connects with the world of art, fashion and all contemporary culture, combining its tradition of collecting direct testimony from key figures in the sector with a new format of exclusive video interviews. In each episode, an icon is interviewed by a journalist, influencer or researcher in the field of fashion.