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.
