| Haider Ackermann’s Tom Ford Spring 2027 collection is the first at the house to include swimwear on the runway. Presented in a nearly dark room lined with glass, it paired pinstripe and baby blue tailoring with black swim styles. Scott Barnhill opened the show. |
Haider Ackermann has stopped being polite at Tom Ford. His Spring 2027 collection was presented in a nearly dark room lined with glass, and it featured swimwear on the runway for the first time. I liked it more than I expected to. For a brand founded on 1990s glamour, introducing swimwear says as much about how Tom Ford wants to be worn next summer as it does about how far Ackermann will go.
A few days earlier, Ackermann posted a video on his Instagram of model Scott Barnhill gazing at his reflection, close enough to kiss the glass. It stopped me mid-scroll. The show followed the same instinct. Models walked out among the panes, paused to admire themselves or eye one another through the glass. Prudery was not invited.
Barnhill opened the show wearing a pinstriped suit tailored to his frame. His olive shirt was unbuttoned, and he wore a thin scarf around his neck with his name monogrammed in one corner. Next came a woman, also in pinstripes and carrying a briefcase, wearing a fishnet t-shirt with no bra underneath. The briefcase said “office.” The fishnet said something else entirely.
Tailoring held the collection together. Suits came in baby blue, black, olive, and white and were often worn over bare skin or with open shirts that revealed bra tops in leather or padded satin. The evening dresses were deep red, like Tom Ford’s lipsticks, and they slipped off the shoulders to reveal bra tops made of leather or padded satin. Red flowers sat on lapels. A red silk robe with a TF monogram on the pocket paid homage to Hugh Hefner. A row of silk and leather bathrobe trench coats followed, exuding the same languid confidence.
The daywear was looser. There were trench coats and jumpsuits in military green, faded and distressed jeans, cargo pants, and perhaps the shortest men’s shorts of the season. In the evening, the men wore smoothly tailored tuxedos or tank tops that were scooped low enough to reveal their chests. The women wore red gowns with strategic cutouts and slits up to the hip. Black leather cocktail wear came in versions for him, her, and them, including a sleeveless tee with the logo laser-cut into the fabric.
Then came the swimsuits.
They were black and minimal, cut for posing rather than for laps. A model sporting a bushy ’70s-style mustache wore a turtleneck over racing briefs. When he turned toward the camera, which he did more than once, the back revealed a G-string. “It’s so sensual, no?” Ackermann said backstage.
Another look made me smile. A man in a crewneck sweater and a pale pink thong skipped the vicuña coat altogether, slinging it over a leather weekend bag and carrying both down the runway. Whether such outfits will be accepted at the country club remains to be seen. They will certainly look right at home on a yacht in the Mediterranean or at a pool party in Bel-Air or Buenos Aires next summer. Several swimsuits recalled Helmut Newton’s photographs from the 1990s.
People will talk about the swimwear, but the useful takeaway is seasonal. Luxury houses rarely showcase swimwear by accident; it’s the clearest way to show clients how the brand wants to be seen at the pool, on a boat, or on vacation, where spring collections are actually worn. Putting swimwear next to pinstripes and a briefcase emphasizes this point. The message is not “go naked“; it’s “dress like this and take the jacket off last.”
For anyone who might feel a chill under an open jacket, there were Tom Ford logo t-shirts on hand. The logo also appeared as perforated lettering on some leather jackets. Small jokes, well timed. The heels were skyscraper tall, and the weekend bags were made of leather, crocodile, and linen. A few of them were embroidered.
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Does it work? Mostly, yes. The nudity rarely feels like a stunt because the tailoring remains disciplined, and the clothes are sharp enough to make an impact without relying on shock value. The collection captures the essence of 1990s Tom Ford, yet it seems aimed at a younger audience comfortable with showing skin. Ackermann almost outdoes the founder at his own game.
Few readers will wear a pink thong with a vicuña coat, but that’s not the main takeaway from the show. The most wearable ideas are the ones that the tailoring showcases: a baby blue or olive suit worn open over bare skin, a half-buttoned shirt, a pinstripe suit that hugs the body, and a silk bathrobe trench coat worn as a light summer layer. Pricing and in-store availability for the collection have not yet been communicated.
He said he feels more comfortable at the house now. He wanted something playful with “a touch more danger,” as well as an eccentricity and decadence he had not tried before. “There’s more nudity than I’ve ever done before,” he said. “But it’s not provocative.”
His plan is to keep going. “Let’s have fun and take more risks,” he told his team. The next collection will reveal how far he is willing to go, and this one suggests he has plenty of room left. Tom Ford has always sold the fantasy of total confidence. For Spring 2027, Ackermann is betting that confidence now looks like less fabric and sharper tailoring.
