Tom Ford has always been about sex. From his legendary stint at Gucci, with its infamous shaved “G” pubic hair moment, to his YSL perfume ad featuring a fully nude Sophie Dahl, Ford consistently and provocatively played with flirtation and sensuality. So much so, in fact, that he earned himself the nickname “The King of Sex.” And twenty-one years after launching his eponymous label, now under a new creative director, that vision is far from dead.

Founded following Ford’s unexpected departure from Gucci in 2004, Tom Ford has carried its founder’s sensibility into a new era. Now at the helm, Haider Ackermann presented the brand’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection with both a rich understanding of the Tom Ford legacy and a refreshed vision for its future.

Where Tom Ford, the man, often played with the flamboyance of sexuality, making an open call for attention, Ackermann’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection presents a different kind of risk: the risk of freedom. “There is something deeply sexual in a body that reveals itself without offering itself,” Ackermann said in a press release. “In a gesture that feels spontaneous and perilous at once.”

The looks present just that: bodies revealed without necessarily being offered up for attention. Outerwear is layered over mesh shirts and bra tops, while loose-cut trousers hang low on the models’ waists. Ideas of businesswear are disrupted by lace and leather clinging tightly to the skin, placing exposure alongside formality. Elegance emerges through both the shape of the body and the precise lines of tailoring, with many looks appearing almost split in half: one side belonging to business, the other to the body.