An inky Andean swell rises behind Medellín, Colombia, as model and muse Saskia de Brauw embarks on a languid walk along the country’s second-largest city in Steps Away, a short film celebrating Haider Ackermann. Director Vincent van de Wijngaard captured the fashion designer’s first return to his birthplace since he left Colombia with his adoptive parents as an infant, for a 10-year retrospective to mark the 25th anniversary of Inexmoda, the country’s fashion and textile showcase. Intensified by a full moon, the evocative show, which took over a year to prepare, spanned 38 looks atop the EPM building in downtown Medellín. “I think he realized that he felt a stronger connection to Colombia than he might have thought,” says Van de Wijngaard, who lent his voiceover to the film alongside de Brauw and Ackermann. The son of a cartographer, the Paris-based designer moved between Algeria, Ethiopia, Chad, the Netherlands, and Belgium, where he briefly attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Since creating his eponymous label in 2001, Ackermann’s combination of asymmetric cuts and sensuous romanticism have made him a cult favorite with the likes of Tilda Swinton and Penélope Cruz. Peppering the film with Ackermann’s warm color palette, Van de Wijngaard included portraits of a child soldier, a series which first drew him to the city’s volatile outskirts six years ago. “It’s a kind of street-photographer approach,” adds the filmmaker, who has shot for GQ Style, Interview and Vogue Hommes International. “We did not plan anything together. In fact, it was all incidental.”