Putting the Designs of Creative Director Albert Kriemler in Conversation With the Artworks That Inspired Them
The Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich just celebrated the closing of an exhibition exploring the work of Akris designer Albert Kriemler in direct conversation with the artwork that inspired it. Titled “Akris. Mode. selbstverständlich” (that last word means “effortless”), the exhibition opened in May of this year and closed just before the beginning of Paris Fashion Week with a special gallery reception.
References to visual art and architecture run throughout Kriemler’s collections for the century-old Swiss fashion house, but it’s not always so easy to detect them on the runway, or to recognize how deeply they are considered. By putting ready-to-wear pieces side-by-side with the works of art that inspired them – which include painting, sculpture, photography, digital art, and more – the exhibition allows the viewer to appreciate how passionately and painstakingly Kriemler and his team of artisans and designers make this translation.
Works by Imi Knoebel (Spring 2021) and Carmen Herrera (Spring 2017), photo series by Thomas Ruff (Fall 2014), and architecture by Sou Fujimoto (Spring 2016), among others, are showcased next to the Akris designs that they informed and inspired.
The exhibition also provides insight into the unique savoir-faire of the house as well as the uncommon excellence and complexity of the crafting that has always characterized Akris collections. What does a digital print, double-face, or St. Gallen embroidery mean? How does the team experiment with horsehair, high-tech fabrics, and colors? Under Kriemler’s creative direction, the century-old history of the house has found shape in a new creative alphabet – embodied in design signatures like the trapezoid, digital prints, and the A-line cut – as well as a uniquely deep approach to artist collaborations.
Bringing together artistry, inspiration, and craft, the exhibition provided a deeper look than ever before into the deceptively effortless world of Akris.
