The Art Of The Essential
Review of Akris Spring 2026 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Abstract Sensuality, Form and Fabric, Intuitive Ornamentation
Albert Kriemler’s Spring 2026 collection for Akris wasn’t about minimalism — it was about essence. “Essence, not reduction,” as the show notes confirmed, and what emerged was a meditation on clean lines and pure design that felt expansive and unrestrained. Heavily influenced by the artist Leon Polk Smith’s work, and specifically his Seven Involvements in One installation – which filled the showspace with its bold geometry, Kriemler approached his collection with the same vibrancy, using Smith’s technique to imbue colour and line with emotion. Harnessing form to create a sense of freedom, each cut, curve and splash of colour was intentional and paid homage to an artist whose ‘Correspondence’ series (of which his Seven Involvements in One was his most ambitious work) also fused colour and shape to create a ‘unified whole’.
In conversation backstage, Kriemler spoke of the cut of his fabrics as his version of Smith’s line, becoming the means by which he builds “the essence” into his garments. This season, that took the form of fringed knits which sensually hugged the body, crisp shirting softened by sheer overlays, and dresses embroidered in Akris’s trapezoid motif. The designer also created a sort of tension in the way he juxtaposed his colours within his silhouettes, as geometric shapes and undulating lines exploded across voluminous silhouettes which acted as his version of a canvas. Working in harmony, rather than in contrast. Even the brands iconic Alice bag, was reimagined in horsehair and satin, and seemed to vibrate with the same geometric energy as Polk Smith’s bold color play.
What felt most remarkable was how Kriemler continues to expand Akris’s language without veering too far from that ‘essence’ he spoke of, his pursuit of the essential is neither cold or stark, it feels instinctive and human. Like his chosen muse – Smith, he rejects the sterile associations of minimalism, preferring instead to find a balance in restraint, and maximalism in his materials.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
With a line, I can create the essence I want to achieve, I do the same thing with fabric, I create a line in my clothes which brings an essence to it. I’m not a minimalist, I’m a maximalist, I want that essence always.
Albert Kriemler, Creative Director, Akris
THE WRAP UP
In this latest collection it was once again quietly reaffirmed how Kriemler has mastered the art of clothes that feel free, and can translate to art that it just so happens can be worn in the real world.
