Saint Laurent fan or not, a trip around fashion week proves the success of that house - the influence of Hedi Slimane can be felt far and wide. You see it in the shrunken jackets, the hyper skinny trousers, the renewed obsession with vintage. Indie's dead? Not in high fashion and not at Haider Ackermann. That's not to suggest Ackermann was referencing his peer too heavily, more that the spirit of the times has shifted and he is responding to it. For a while, it wasn't cool to be a poet - those nineties days where the struggling unknown artist or musician was fetishised by the media and fashion alike died when sporty silhouettes came to dominate fashion. But Ackermann is fashion's resident bohemian - and he's happily looking back to those times while pushing forward. This show was less loose and less voluminous than normal - you saw it not only in the use of those belt-cum-cummerbunds that sucked in models' waists but in the skinny drainpipe trousers (less signature drop crotch, more shrink). His man had moved from the exotic shisha bar to the European festival - less lounging more stomping.
Times have have changed in other ways too - streetwear, whatever that vague concept means, now dominates - tracksuits and sweatshirts feel current, luxurious and are genuinely relatable and relevant to every day life. It's smart then that Ackermann keeps expanding his offer to include not only silky finery but sporty trackpants and distressed t-shirts. After all, those penniless musicians need some way to buy into the brand.