Tom Ford – Haider Ackermann Makes Eyewear An Eye-Catcher
Haider Ackermann’s Fall/Winter 2026 presentation for tom ford stripped the runway to a clinically white setting at Place Vendôme and made sunglasses the defining element of every look, signalling a tightened, reduced design language across the house.
Tom Ford Eyewear Takes Center Stage
The collection placed eyewear not as an accessory but as the focal point: dark lenses, narrow frames and clean geometry were integrated into tailored silhouettes so that the glasses often defined the outfit rather than completed it. Since his appointment as Creative Director of Tom Ford in 2024, Ackermann has overseen the brand’s creative direction, including eyewear. The current models are marketed under the label “Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann” while the glasses continue to be produced by Marcolin. The Tom Ford sunglasses from the 2026 collections are now available in stores.
Precision Tailoring, Denim Moments and a Response to Unsettled Times
The show unfolded in an almost clinically white room and distilled the house’s codes into a focused study of tailoring, proportion and controlled sensuality. Precise tailoring, leather pencil skirts and transparent shirts shared the stage with a menswear line-up that leaned heavily on suits: double-breasted jackets, pinstripes and crisp shirts, with trousers worn long over narrow boots. Small details — white neckties, slim ties tucked into trousers, floral corsages — softened the formality while jackets cut close to the torso and shirts left open low on the chest injected a quiet sex appeal.
Material play was a through-line. Leather, denim and fur (the collection notes suggest a muted approach to fur) were elevated in service of the house’s aesthetic. Denim moments were notable: high-waisted jeans in a dark rinse with pronounced whiskering were styled with tuxedo jackets, knit turtlenecks and leather gloves, echoing the sharp geometry of the tailoring while grounding the collection in everyday wearability. Transparent raincoats layered over suits offered a practical, protective note within the precise silhouettes.
Ackermann framed the collection as a response to unsettled times, proposing clothes that encourage composure and clarity. The result is a reduced, confident design language that moves away from decorative eyewear and repeated nostalgia toward something quieter yet iconic. Actor Paul Anthony Kelly bridged the runway and the wider cultural moment, embodying the aesthetic during VIP arrivals; he is currently appearing as John F. Kennedy Jr. in the series Love Story, aligning a contemporary screen presence with the show’s mood. Observers have noted a return of 1990s and early 2000s silhouettes in a cool, understated way that the collection emphasises.
On the business side, Marcolin remains the designer, manufacturer and distributor for the eyewear, operating across more than 125 countries with approximately 2, 000 employees and managing licensed luxury and lifestyle brands including the Tom Ford label alongside others in its portfolio.
With eyewear positioned at the core of the Fall/Winter 2026 presentation and sunglasses now arriving in stores under the “Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann” label, the collection signals the direction Ackermann is taking the house: a distilled, seductive approach to dressing that foregrounds precision and restraint.
