Haider Ackermann's Japanese Pirate Couture

There was a rare fashion moment in Florence on Wednesday, June 16, in a storied Renaissance palazzo, when Haider Ackermann presented a true rarity in the industry, a collection of men's couture, of highly unique, customized clothes.

And, the Japanese pirate meets rocker combination, the first ever menswear presented by Ackermann, looks like being highly influential. That's not to say that millions of men are going to start dressing like a cross between Johnny Depp and Keith Richards. But one suspects this designer's choice of patchwork fabrics from India, pajama pants, silky shirts and bizarre seat belts, that looked pinched from a business class flight, will filter into many guy's wardrobe.

Entitled "Opium, Wardrobe for Men…. & Women," the show - a gala event at Pitti, the giant menswear trade show - contained clothes for both men and women for the spring 2011 season.

Ackermann, a Colombian-born designer whose women's runway show have, in the past few seasons, come to be regarded as a top ten must-see in the Paris season where he normally shows, employed his signature sculptural look for both men and women.

"It's the same aesthetic. Though maybe the woman is more poetic and the man more of an adventurer. After all, he is pursuing the lady," the designer said backstage after the show.

In a brilliant piece of staging, the production team hung a series of huge chandeliers in the night sky above the courtyard of Palazzo Corsini, a magnificent baroque palace on the banks of the Arno. Pre-show, the designer had laid out a huge feast, just as a spectacle, inside the palazzo, whose amazing ground floor frescoes have a ghostly damaged appeal, the result of the waters that flowed through the building in November 1966 when the Arno overflowed its banks.

Ackermann had clearly tailored his look for the setting, sending out glitzy scarves and Moroccan style slippers, in feathered finishes that recalled the colors of the opulent frescoes. And, getting ex-model and torch singer Jamie Bochert to accompany the show on a grand piano with a cellist and violinist playing Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," was an inspired idea.

Jackets cut like Asian wrestler outfits, double lapel coats in Goa-style patchworks, Scarlet Pimpernel striped tops or dhoti cut trousers that finished three-inches above the ankle all made for an exotic mood. Worn on a great casting of unshaven models, this was an audacious take on men's fashion. And it was proper couture, rather than just luxury ready-to-wear.

"I want to be clear that I am not launching a menswear division. We'll make these clothes for special order and maybe a few boutiques that have always stocked our women's wear. It was more an interesting challenge than anything else," said Ackermann.