FALL 2010Ready to Wear
Paris, March 7, 2010
Picking up where his smart pre-collection left off, Albert Kriemler's Fall lineup was focused on languid, seventies-ish tailoring and outerwear with a sportif sensibility. The lean, spare silhouette of his suits—elongated jacket, high-waisted flared trousers—provided an opportunity to showcase the fine fabrics that Akris' St. Gallen mills specialize in: Prince of Wales checks, houndstooths, tweeds, and plaids, all in the supplest cashmere. And it doesn't get any more luxe than Kriemler's long-sleeved blouse in a taupey-gray sheared astrakhan. As subtle as that fur and those menswear cashmeres were, his leathers were vibrant: a trim, to-the-body sleeveless dress in cassis, a fitted double-breasted coat in plum. As for the sportier fare, you're never going to see a straight-up down parka here. Kriemler's came in camel hair with drawstrings on the sleeves and across the torso and back to adjust the fit.
Ornamentation only entered the picture for evening, but it remained understated: Trapezoidal black crystals adorned the sheer shoulders of a black double-face long dress; the bodice of a strapless cocktail number was stitched with smooth feathers.
If Kriemler got carried away, it was with his bags—not with the totes themselves, which are as finely made as they were when they debuted last season, but in the sheer number of them on the runway. In the end, though, they didn't detract from this well-considered, elegant collection.
SPRING 2010Ready to Wear
Paris, 23 March 2010
Albert Kriemler has designed his first-ever handbag collection for Akris, and his Spring clothes served as a well-considered minimalist canvas upon which to launch it. A few coats and dresses were made from leather that was scissored into narrow trapezoids, then re-glued for a geometric effect. But for the most part, Kriemler dialed down the sometimes overwrought fabric treatments from Fall and got back to the spare, clean lines that the Swiss company has been known for.
For day, that meant layered fine-gauge silk sweaters, sleekly tailored coat-dresses, and pantsuits with cropped jackets, elongated tees, and tapered knit pants. A sporty element came through via a gray laminated parka inset with athletic mesh and zip-front, blouson-back dresses. For evening, Kriemler was thinking streamlined. Long gray gowns draped gracefully from asymmetric shoulders, and a tall column of jersey came inset with inverted triangles of tulle at the neckline, front and back.
As for the bags? It's a measure of the company's commitment that Akris bought a horsehair factory before launching its accessories. Logo-less save for the trapezoidal zipper pulls, the results stand apart from the hardware-heavy styles currently popular. Showing large bags can turn your runway into merch fest, but Kriemler avoided that fate by producing a range as subtle as his clothes.
PRE-FALL 2010Ready to Wear
NEW YORK, January 18, 2010
Removing the pressure of a runway show can free up a designer to do his best work. That's what's happened to Albert Kriemler at Akris for pre-fall. Focusing on traditional yet timely shapes—like the trench, shrunken double-breasted jackets and high-waisted, full-legged trousers, and capes—he let the luxe fabrics that the Swiss label is famous for do all the talking. And speak to his patrician-class customers these materials will: the double-face cashmeres, the bonded leathers, the buttery suedes. His black wool tweed pantsuit qualifies as one of the sharpest of the season, but it wasn't all boardroom material. Akris has its sporty side, too; one smart highlight among the off-hours looks was a knit poncho (with sleeves, so it stays put) teamed with matchstick-thin pants.
RESORT 2010Ready to Wear
NEW YORK, June 26, 2009
Akris is a name on everybody's lips these days because these are clothes that seem especially right for the times. Beautifully made and trend-resistant, they're the very definition of investment dressing. Albert Kriemler wanted his Resort collection to be a feel-good one—literally. To that end he focused on fabric development, creating featherweight jersey for smocked dresses that softly caress the body. A neat chiffon bodysuit—worn with a tailored coat and jeans—had a wafting neckline. Giving shape to these light fabrics were tucked sleeves that resembled lobster tails—a good thing, it turned out, when worked into jackets and a galaxy-print dress.
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