Akris 100 Years Act I
The Akris Spring 2023 collection celebrates 100 years of Akris. It simultaneously marks a rebeginning and is an homage to the legacy of the house. A collection where past, present, and future coexist. A look back to move forward into a new century!
“Fashion never is a solo love affair,” Albert says. The Hearts was the first Akris print (Fall 1989) created by Gianpaolo Ghioldi, Albert Kriemler's valued print manufacturer in Como, Italy. None is more enduring than the heart, it represents the very essence of life; and love; and a precious collaboration of creative craftsmanship and sense of color that has lasted for over 30 years. “It was the foundation of our own way to the future, to design collector’s prints coveted by the women who wear them for years.”
The lace in this collection originates from Albert Kriemler's designs of the 1980s. “While searching for it, we realized the original laces had a strength that we could not find in any of today’s replacements,” Albert Kriemler states. That what is just right cannot be surpassed; it took six months for the initial lacemaker in Calais to reproduce it.
The strong, vivid hues shining in this collection appear as the shades of the rainbow. A color spectrum beautifully represented in Ugo Rondinone’s visual cosmos, particularly his rainbow works. WE ARE POEMS embodies the artist’s fascination with poetry emphasizing the subjective, the irrational, the emotional. The Swiss-born, New York-based artist believes that poetry–like art–needs no explanation, no thinking, but rather demands simply to be felt. Albert Kriemler has selected this artwork as a symbol for the self-evident sensuality of Akris clothes and as a perfect representation for this moment. A hundred years ago, his grandmother Alice Kriemler set out to define a woman’s presence and enhance her charisma, and that very much remains Albert’Kriemler's mission today.
Selbstverständlich
«selbstverständlich» is the German expression which, in the mind of Albert Kriemler, best encapsulates the aesthetic ideal that he wishes to accomplish with his fashion designs. For the creative director of Akris, the embodiment of effortless modernity is «selbstverständlich» – evident in the wearer and the use and functionality of the clothes.
Taking the collections as waymarks, Akris – A Century in Fashion encompasses the house’s hundred-year history: its humble beginnings as an apron atelier, its ascent into the world of high fashion and its rootedness in St. Gallen, center of a once booming Swiss textile industry. Contributions from different authors, among them fashion writer Jessica Iredale, explore the history, uniqueness and forward-looking nature of the house. Photo essays by Iwan Baan illustrate its hometown and inside world. Choreographer John Neumeier and artist Thomas Ruff discuss their creative collaborations with the designer.