This is the first time in nearly two decades that we are not Paris-bound during fashion week there but instead are following the shows from our offices in Berlin. We really hope this will not become the new standard as the excitement of a runway and the pre- and post show meets and greets are sorely missed. What becomes more and more clear is that the lack of human interaction also affects designers tremendously – some of them sit in their studios and actually loose connection to what’s happening in the world (more about this later) and some excel by making the working from home aspect an asset as Albert Kriemler with Akris proved.

Anton Belinskiy

Volodymyr Zelensky, formerly a popular comedian and actor, who played a president on TV before he became the Ukraine’s head of state was supposed to become embroiled in ferocious battles with Ukraine’s oligarchs over endemic corruption and going head-to-head with Russia’s president Vladimir V. Putin. But instead not much has changed under him and people are getting tired. So the chaotic spirit thriving in Kiev still fuels the collections of the local designers and especially Anton Belinskiy’s, one of the country’s most prominent fashion figures. “But there is still the search for an immaculate ray of truth in this constant stream of chaos,” he proclaimed in his show notes. The fashion video showed a gang of locally cast models walking along a frozen body of water embracing nature. The floor length skirt and pants with giant horse print and multi color crochet sweaters laid bare an honest vulnerability and his impulse to create emotional fashion. Belinskiy is at the forefront of that.

Givenchy

The expectations were oh so high. Hired at the last minute for Spring/Summer 2021, Matthew Williams finally had his first proper catwalk extravaganza for Givenchy to express his vision. And unfortunately it was an over the top produced light dome spectacle which highlighted Williams’ struggle with this Haute Couture house. Hired to bring in credible youth culture, the designer ran riot with his black leather tailoring, oversize festival, which culminated in bare nipple revealing outfits which paid no respect to Rudi Gernreich nor to the International Women’s Day yesterday. The director of photography deserves special credit for his novel approach to capturing clothing, the fashion designer not so for his tone-deaf approach to the current mood.

Akris

“The streets, the nature, pavement and parks are for now a woman’s stage.” These wise words in the press notes of Albert Kriemler’s Akris kit set the tone for his outdoor-inspired outerwear collection. Teaming up with photographer Anton Corbijn again, who shot the collection on St. Gallen’s viewpoint Dreilinden using a one-take technique to capture the models in motion. The one-take camera approach brought a playful eye to a rigid military line up where the opening models wore St. Gallen map print parkas. This collection played heavily on a secret strength of Kriemler’s: outerwear. Arch-elegant parkas, fur bombers and cut out coats or photo printed blousons bringing together the best St. Gallen has to offer in fabrics technology from Bischoff, Forster Rohner and Jakob Schlaepfer. Akris was also given access to UNESCO World Heritage Site the Abbey Library of Saint Gall.