Slow Luxury at Tom Ford as the Brand is Rebirthed
Review of Tom Ford Fall 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Slow Luxury, Restrained Elegance, Considerate Colour
As the third custodian in the 20-year history of the Tom Ford brand, Haider Ackermann’s debut was received, to this reviewer anyway, as a palette cleanser, or a prelude for what’s to come. Knowing the history of vivacity which underlines Tom Ford, and the Ackermann acumen for building a brand widely recognised and loved for its way with colour harmonies and fabric flourishes. Purposefully? Leaving us wanting more, this initial collection is likely to garner genuine curiosity for what will follow in spring 2026..
Teasing the first visuals for this new mood, a series of images were uploaded on the brands Instagram account, starring – and shot by – photographer Ethan James Green (fresh off a star turn photographing the latest Pirelli calendar) and featuring the androgynous angles of Dutch model Saskia de Brauw the lack of clothes worn by both suggested a rebirth, a starting over. For fall 2025 this strategy of stripping back was wholly unexpected, as per previous seasons high octane glamour of the highest calibre is what made the brand such a hit with its UHNW customers.
Instead, these were your Tom Ford fundamentals, a starter kit to build a foundational wardrobe with the brand for men and women. Sleek lines, precision tailoring, the finest of exotic skins in glossy reds all present and correct. With day to night and even nocturnal activities considered (a velvet collar robe with tassels took care of what to wear when answering the door to any unexpected midnight callers). But then towards the mid part of the show, it came, that jolt of colour that neither man, nor brand can escape, as trouser suits came out in canary yellow and baby pink with an acid apple blouse. It still felt restrained, but again served as an opener. A set of re-imagined tuxedos with embellished contrast panels were where Ackermann came into his own and a sense of emotional investment could be detected.
Before signing off on his first collection the designer revealed that he had left the best for last with a set of looks that innovatively created a snakeskin texture from grey metallic knitted yarns!! Who would have thought that an alternative to an exotic skin could look so chic.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
Haider Ackermann brought himself firmly to the table with this satisfying, if not entirely groundbreaking collection for Tom Ford, but as we have seen with numerous other debuts in the past the pressure to perform and hit a home run straight out of the park with the first collection is unnecessary, and with the new creative director preferring to ease us into his era, this measured start to his tenure points towards a man who is in it for the long haul, so is choosing not to show his cards all at once. A clever strategy that we hope will pay off as Ackermann unhurriedly guides the brand towards the future.
