PFW: Akris, coats galore for women on the move

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Mar 6, 2017

With a new PR company; new show space and bold new silhouettes, it all felt very fresh this season chez Akris, often dubbed 'the Chanel of Switzerland.'
 

Creative Director Kriemler’s Big Idea for fall was collaborating with Canadian artist Rodney Graham, using his photo prints – of the artist himself – across a whole series of great looks. Kicking off with an immense brown parka – made in alpaca, but rainproof nonetheless - and climaxing with a sextet of topcoats from Graham’s Mantelanzieher exhibition of massive monochromatic prints.
 
Kriemler dresses the elite of our world: Fortune 500 women executives, Condoleezza Rice and Princess Charlene de Monaco. His fabrics are often experimental but always noble – from shearling printed techno taffeta to quilted reversible and water-resistant agnello. His designs make women look distinguished and cerebral. Yet his aesthetic is never stiff.
 

Quitting his traditional location inside the Grand Palais, and opting to show in daylight before the immense Modernist windows of the Palais de Tokyo was also smart, for Akris clients are very much women on the move.

“To me, there is nothing more sophisticated and elegant than a coat. It commands and brings respect. And, when I saw Rodney’s exhibition in the Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Zurich I immediately saw how I could add humor and a little subversion,” explained Kriemler, attired almost head-to-toe in Dior Homme.