Haider Ackermann is by far one of my favourite designers and despite establishing his label 11 years ago and showing his collections to critical acclaim, his brand still feels like one of fashion's best kept secrets but that's slowly changing. As a result of the likes of Tilda Swinton wearing his pieces on the red carpet, the Haider Ackermann brand has slowly and steadily seeped into the public consciousness and that's going to only increase now that he has made his Net-A-Porter debut.
This week the online retailer introduced their customers to his line for the first time, showcasing some of the pieces from his breathakingly beautiful A/W12 collection. As always, his latest offerings tap into the masculine/feminine dichotomy that he's mastered and presents in a way that feelts a lot more considered that what we've seen from anyone else. Leather jackets come alongside waist accentuating belts, this season's long and lean skirt-style and dresses that need to be examined 360 to appreciate all of their subtle details.
Last year Chanel put on a show with their Indian-inspired resort collection at their usual spot at the Grand Palais but today they took their latest collection to the Palace of Versailles. Chanel campaign girl Alice Dellal sat front row at the show along with the usual faces like Vanessa Paradis and Caroline Sieber. Tilda Swinton also attended along with Haider Ackermann.
Clockwise from large image: Emma Stone in Alexander McQueen; Ashlee Simpson in Jenny Packham; Natalie Portman in Giambattista Valli; Lea Michele in Versace; Sofia Vegara in Marchesa; Rose Byrne in Elie Saab and Tilda Swinton in Lanvin
The red carpet looks at the SAG Awards were really good and to some extent, a lot more exciting than what we saw at the Golden Globes. Natalie Portman, Lea Michele, Renee Bargh, Tilda Swinton and Emma Stone stole the show. Strong looks also came from Ashlee Simpson who made a surprise appearance on the red carpet, which suggests that she has a big comeback in the works and Sofia Vegara looked beautiful in a pink strapless gown.
This week has been a busy one in Hollywood. Earlier on this week we had the People's Choice Awards and last night was the turn of the Critics Choice Awards.
Outfits on the night that realy stood out came from Charlize Theron in Azzedine Alaia, Michelle Williams in Chanel, Kristen Dunst in Christian Dior, Jessica Chastian in Balenciaga and Shailene Woodley in Calvin Klein. I was really excited to see what Elizabeth Olsen would wear over the next week but her yellow Emilio Pucci dress that she wore to last night's event hasn't got me excited about what is yet to come.
This month has been a busy one for Pringle of Scotland. This pre-fall season marked the first for the house under the direction of their new creative director Alistair Carr and to help celebrate, the collection has just dropped on Italian e-commerce website, The Corner, along with their own mini-store.
If you're still unfamiliar with The Corner, it's definitely worth checking out. The online shopping space has become so saturated over the last few years but the site, which is part of the successful Yoox Group, has managed to separate themselves from their competitors by giving customers access to the world of the given featured designer in their personalised virtual 'corners' on the site. Multimedia content like videos accompany designers' products in their customised 'mini-stores' and that's exactly what they've done with Pringle of Scotland with their two latest collections. Tilda Swinton, the long-time face of the brand, was brought on board to quizz Carr on the new resort collection, his design process and what it was like to take the reigns at such a much-loved heritage brand.
In the interview Carr explained that he will always respect the brand's heritage but it's important for him to also take it forward. In light of that, the brand's new collaboration with Central Saint Martins students make sense. Under the watchful eye of Louise Wilson, MA students were given the opportunity to go through the brand 196 year old archive collection to design a capsule collection of 12 pieces that served to reconnect the present with the brand's long history.
Tilda Swinton is one of the few actresses that are lucky enough to get their hands on Haider Ackermann's pieces to wear on the red carpet. Last week she walked the red carpet with the designer at the Marie Claire Awards wearing one of the jewel toned two-piece suits from his Fall 2011 collection and this week she teamed her black sheer blouse and trousers with a sequined jacket by the designer to attend the Gotham Independent Film Awards.
For me, Swinton and Ackermann is always a winning combination so just like last week, this look gets my vote.
It's not often that Haider Ackermann's pieces are spotted on the backs of Hollywood stars but when Tilda Swinton appeared at Marie Claire's Prix de la Moda Awards this week in the designer's creation, it made sense.
According to the designer, dressing celebrities for 'the red carpet is kind of a prostitution' so if he doesn't have a connection with the actress, they're not going to be given his clothes so it's fair to assume that there must be a bond between Ackermann and Tilda Swinton.
We all fell in love when she appeared on the cover of Dazed & Confused with fierce curly hair and nowTilda Swinton has charmed us again on the August cover of W magazine.
Rather than taking her out of her comfort zone, stylist Jacob Kjeldgaard played on Swinton's androgyny - but not in a I've-seen-this-one-hundred-times-before kind of way. The magazine also called on Jerry Stafoord, the creative director of a French production company who also helps Swinton pick looks for red carpet events, to direct the shoot.
