Like Miuccia Prada, Akris' Albert Kriemler got turned on by cars this season. Kriemler specifically referenced John Frankenheimer's 1966 film Grand Prix, set in Monaco and other pit stops from motor racing's golden age. Still, the two collections were as night and day as you'd expect; where Prada was cheeky, Akris was sleek.
Kriemler devoted a large part of the collection to the photoprints that have become a house signature. A shot of the Hotel de l'Hermitage on racing day and another of spectators gathered on top of a large rectangular viewing structure were bold. More clever, if not necessarily more subtle, were the tiny speedometer print and a graphic horizontal stripe made from manipulating the image of a car.
Speed was the organizing metaphor here: Shifts were aerodynamic and A-line, while jackets and pants with racing stripes looked inspired by uniforms. Sport has been a persistent trend this season, and this collection puts Kriemler and co. in the center of it.
