Haider Ackermann Spring 2004 Ready-to-Wear Collection on Style.com: Runway Review

Haider Ackermann

REVIEW

COMPLETE COLLECTION

Haider Ackermann Spring 2004 Ready-to-Wear

PARIS, October 7, 2003

By Rebecca Lowthorpe

The season is shaping up to be a pretty one, full of floaty dresses, fizzy prints, and eye-popping color. But trust a Belgian—or, in this case, a Belgian-trained, Colombian-born Frenchman—to deliver a more austere approach to spring/summer.

Despite the stark palette of petrol blue, graphite, black, and white, Haider Ackermann’s collection was both light and desirable. His inspiration? "The street," he said simply. "And elegance." For the former, read sporty perforated synthetics cut into skinny racer-back vests and harem pants. And for the latter? That would be any one of his dresses—an effortless, elongated blue sweater, say, or a sinuous gray jersey wrap-over style.

Although Ackermann did veer down a few mean streets with his trickier pieces—softly strapped bondage trousers, tough black leather shorts, and a number of raw-hemmed pencil skirts—he never hit a dead end in a collection that was cool and surprisingly graceful, albeit with a dark soul.

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