Paris Fashion Week Women’s S/S 2019 Part 4
Paris' greatest fashion moments: Akris
October 2, 2018
Akris S/S 2019
We all know Made in Switzerland means the very best in quality. Chocolates, bank accounts or Swiss Air. There is a discreet charm and perfection to all things Swiss just like the serve of Roger Federer. Akris is another company who stands for this. In fact, it’s the only Swiss fashion house that is on the Paris Fashion Week schedule. One of the techniques designer Albert Kriemler has perfected for the label is the photo print garment. Kriemler loves to use contemporary artists or architects as inspiration for his collections and he has mastered the skill of printing images on fabrics; a complicated process as it is not easy to inject ink on fabric to properly represent the original art work. But Made in Switzerland does it and after the ground breaking collection for Fall/Winter 2014 with German art photographer Thomas Ruff where Dusseldorf housing backyards were screened on capes and coats, he opened Sunday’s show with images from his latest artist obsession Rumanian Geta Brătescu. Brătescu’s complex body of work comprises drawing, collage, object, photography and performance. Sadly, she died a few days before the show aged 92 making this collaboration with Akris one of her last projects. What’s new for Kriemler who generally likes art and architecture with rigid and strong lines is that this time he picked someone who is all about playfulness. So many of his colorful bags and blouses featured lips, glasses and eyes making up funny faces to add fun, unusual to Akris. Let’s not forget, Kriemler is the designer of note to H.S.H. Princess Charlene of Monaco, making her look regal at Formula 1 races and stunning in a black light lace turtleneck and flare skirt when she sat first row at this show. His opening look of a short shift dress with pleated skirt depicting a Bucharest housing block set the tone of this breezy and fresh show.
What stood out?
Akris is more and more becoming a house for the flou dress. Fabrics are flowing around the body, neck scarves drape from the neck around the body on one arm covered and one revealed cocktail dresses.
Akris is Akris when?
In some knock out exaggerated guipure lace skirt suits made with St. Gallen’s totem fabric.
The set?
Brătescu is famous for making art works with magnets so Kriemler set up his Pavillon Ledoyen show space with giant horseshoe magnets through which the models walked. The magnets being a metaphor for how we interact.
The make up?
Horseshoes even showed up as eye make up making an unexpected impression.
What we liked the best?
The hardware. The way the sculpture necklace held the top of the finale dresses and adorned the body was spectacular.
In his own words?
I very much relate to Brătescu idea of a studio as the place where everything is possible.
What we didn’t like?
The footwear felt formulaic. Yes, great to see sneakers chez Akris but the heeled bottines on most of the looks were too boring.
