The runway was extra narrow at Akris today. Designer Albert Kriemler intended it to be; he wanted us to see his fabrics close-up. Akris is famous for its St. Gallen embroidery, and there were some fine examples of it on a pair of dresses in the most delicate of black lace, though these were more or less covered by coats. Outerwear and suiting were the focus of Kriemler’s effective collection for Fall. Backstage, he was discussing investment pieces. He’s picked up on the fact that tailoring is the big talking point of the season. “For us it’s a culture, not something we do to be trendy. But it is nice to fit into the moment better than anyone else.”
Kriemler’s two art preoccupations this season—he almost always references art—were Richard Artschwager’s All in Good Time horsehair exclamation points and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Farbtafel prints of the early 1800s, which look remarkably modern 200 years later. Artschwager was quite loosely referenced in the first and last looks of the collection. Coco Rocha’s double-face coat was impressively inset with colorblocks of horsehair embroidery, and Dilone’s halter-neck gown featured a cut-out on the back in the vague shape of that declarative punctuation mark. The cues Kriemler took from Goethe were more direct: his prints appeared on a shirtdress, a ’60s-ish mod shift, and a pantsuit.
In contrast to those graphic seasonal collector’s items, the investment pieces were the subtler elements of the collection. Despite their discretion, this is what stood out: an ivory pulled-wool coat that looked like shearling but weighed almost nothing in comparison; a black cashmere corduroy pantsuit with a fashionable oversize, boxy fit; and St. Gallen wool-on-tulle embroidery that looked deceptively like a cardigan jacket, worn with matching plaid trousers. “To feel well in the clothes,” said Kriemler. “That’s the point.”
