Akris is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, but the first look out was designer Albert Kriemler's way of telling us the Swiss brand is 90 years young. The black pebblestone-embroidered tulle sheath wasn't a model of discretion, if you get our meaning. In fact, many of the outfits in this 90-look show were noticeably sheer, but they weren't as compelling an advertisement for the brand's vitality as the tailoring, most of it softly structured and paired with sexy jersey racerback tanks that dipped low in the front.
Models strode out confidently in Walter Steiger-designed ballerina flats, wearing cardigan jackets and A-line horsehair skirts or double-face, elongated gilets with flaring bootleg pants. Tailoring is the heart and soul of Akris, and Kriemler showed the label's range, going from a casual yet crisp oversize button-down and leather almost-leggings (not quite second-skin-tight), to an ivory take on a smoking, to a fluoro orange jacket and matching color-blocked pants.
Another theme he touched on: the house-signature photoprints. This season, Kriemler used images of gardens designed by the famous Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, a personal hero of the designer's known for his curved and sensual silos. An overhead shot of the roof garden of the Banco Safra headquarters looked pretty sensational reproduced on a floor-length skirt shown with one of those low-key tanks.
With 90 looks on the runway, though, they couldn't all be hits. An organza shift with a huge leaf appliqué didn't quite live up to Akris' elegant reputation. Still, we like what it suggested: that even after nine decades, Akris is still in growth mode.
