>> Haider Ackermann has flown under the radar for a number of years, but in the past few months particularly, it feels as though he's crossed a threshold. In November of last year, Karl Lagerfeld named Ackermann as the designer he'd like to see take over from him at Chanel; Ackermann was reportedly being scouted by Yves Saint Laurent CEO Valerie Hermann at his October show; and Vogue chose to dress Lady Gaga in Ackermann's dresses both on the magazine's March 2011 cover — a major coup — and inside. As Ackermann tells longtime supporter Tilda Swinton in Interview's February 2011 issue, he's feeling the love: "You know what? I feel like I’m going through such a delicious phase of my life at the moment. It’s nice to feel desired — and I do feel desired work-wise but also privately . . . You know, we all want to be desired. So it feels very good. You know, I really like to take the time to build things slowly and surely — to get more grounded. But it never felt for certain, like, 'One day people will listen to me!' It was more like, 'Perhaps I’ve got something to say.' So it feels fantastic." [Interview]