Jean Paul Gaultier announces Haider Ackermann as next haute couture guest

Colombian-born designer Haider Ackermann has been revealed as the next haute couture guest for Jean Paul Gaultier’s spring/summer 2023 collection.

Over the course of his career, the Paris-based creator has been the head of a number of prominent fashion houses, including Dior, Martin Margiela and Berluti, after he completed a five month internship for John Galliano.

Gaultier stepped down from his eponymous fashion house in January 2020, and later announced a strategy revolving around appointing young designers to make haute couture collections for the brand each season.

As Gaultier’s guest designer, Ackermann follows in the footsteps of Sacai, Y/Project’s Glenn Martens and Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing, who was the most recent collaborator.

For his own collection, Rousteing presented a line that questioned gender in humorous ways, mirroring Gaultier’s signature fashion heritage.

Models sported corsets, moulded busts, skin-tight jumpsuits and platform shoes, with both men and women taking to the runway, challenging the typical conventions of haute couture.

In an Instagram post revealing the new collaboration, Ackermann said: “I am so tremendously thrilled to be the guest of the Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture house.”

Possibly hinting at what to expect, the post further stated: “Couture is what’s left when we’ve forgotten everything.”