The Blue Hour

Blue,
the last translucence before the dark,
is not a color but a depth.
A storm in silence.
A soft to the ever-stark black.

The jacket and coat, signatures of Albert's universe, are not just markers of presence but symbols of transition: an overcoat reimagined in sequins, button-up jackets with wispy feathers, the short Duo trench in ottoman silk. There, fabrics are not just material but a message — for the woman who does not compromise.

Embracing the calm and soft of dusk, textures blur — a knitted wool hoodie and brushed cashmere cape resemble shearling, yet they are not. Wool double-face plaid and plush maxi cord are imbued with a blanket-like sensibility. Taffeta ribbons and airy feathers evolve with movement, continuously changing as they follow the body — right to the next party. Cyanotype prints appear in flashes, as does the new Alice handbag in Akris' DNA of horsehair.

“When I see a woman in blue, I think of a subtle whiff of sophistication. She is effortless, not trying to hard but communicating an innate sense of confidence — blue whispers yet still commands a room,” Albert says.

*sensation, which comes from the Medieval Latin sēnsātiō, meaning perception through the senses.

“Alyson's cyanotype conveys this deep, multilayered representation of blue,” Albert states. Cyanotype, also known as blueprint or Blaupause, is derived from the Greek word κύανος (kyanos – cyan), meaning 'dark blue impression.' Cyanotypes, once used for architectural and scientific drafts, are created by treating paper with an iron-salt solution and exposingit to UV light, which causes the pigment Prussian blue to form.

Alyson Shotz is an American artist renowned for sculptures that subvert their own physicality to explore the phenomenological experience of space, gravity, light, and matter. Her work is held in collections such as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., among others.