Berluti in talks with Haider Ackermann

The LVMH group is alive with activity. It is Berluti's turn to be in the limelight, after the rumours about the replacement of Nicolas Ghesquière by Jonathan Anderson as Creative Director of Louis Vuitton - which were denied by the luxury label - and the leak about the possible sale of US fashion label Donna Karan.

According to our information, the group led by Bernard Arnault is thinking about Haider Ackermann as the next Creative Director of its menswear label Berluti. Several sources have hinted that the French designer of Colombian origin might have entered talks for the succession of Alessandro Sartori, who returned to Italy to lead Ermenegildo Zegna.

Last May, Berluti boss Antoine Arnault stated to Bloomberg that the brand was actively seeking a new creative director and that an appointment was expected to be made "before the summer."

"A new creative director whose aim would be to infuse the brand with a more casual mood, which we are currently lacking, and who would shake up the label's ready-to-wear style, making it more lively and contemporary," indicated Antoine Arnault at the time.

Last February, the fashion label had entered into talks with AMI's Alexandre Mattiussi, whose profile was a good fit with the evolution wished for by Antoine Arnault. But the negotiations fell through.

Haider Ackermann is renowned for his talent in cuts and structures, and he could bring a breath of fresh air to the menswear brand, a household name for its all-too-classic footwear.

Ackermann is a ground-breaking designer, influenced by the world's cultures, and he loves to work on contrasts and colours. He has made a name for himself on the fashion scene in the last fifteen years, with his timeless, sensual style.

Ackermann is forty years old and has been linked with several fashion houses. He kept focusing on his own brand however, building its success season after season, and has always been appreciated by the media and his peers.

After a nomadic childhood in Ethiopia, Chad, Algeria and the Netherlands, Ackermann graduated from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and set up his own label in 2003. Two years later, his women's ready-to-wear label joined the Belgian talent incubator BVBA 32, a company managed by Anne Chapelle, which also has Ann Demeulemeester under its wing.

Ackermann is currently living in Paris, where he set up his office and where he shows, dividing his time with his Antwerp atelier. His brand is distributed via about 250 luxury multi-brand stores in some thirty countries. Five seasons ago, the designer launched his own menswear line.

About the Berluti hypothesis, the designer's label is sheltering behind a 'no comment'.

Dominique Muret (with Bruno Joly and Jean-Paul Leroy)