Mood board: Akris’ Albert Kreimler is the master of unifying art and fashion. When other brands appear to seek out partnerships for Instagrammable gimmicks or quick cultural validity, the designer imbues his art- or architecture-inspired collections with integrity and passion. His recent collaborative roster has included Geta Bratescu and Alexander Girard. For S/S 2020, the artist was taken with the work of 1903-born Italian painter Antonio Calderara, whose figurative work moved into experimentations of colour and form in the mid-1950s, focusing on lines and squares, and incorporating the mist of Lake Orta in Vacciago, where he lived from the mid-1930s. This meant an opalising colour palette of white and black, suffused with glittering golds and silvers, embodied in molten tailoring, fluid dresses, relaxed suiting and gowns embellished with graphic mosaic, in sequin silk, lurex jersey and pearlised suede.
Finishing touches: At the head of the catwalk stood a huger replica of the Akris’ signature trapezoidal tote, the ‘Ai,’ which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. The design was originally inspired by a pavilion built by the Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao, and its geometric shape has become a design code of the brand. Its silhouette was updated for spring and worn on the catwalk strung on the waist as a bumbag, or seen in its newer version the Aicon.
Best in show: A series of gauzy geometric looks, like a silk georgette kaftan and a flared trouser suit nodded to the square colour blocked tones in Calderara’s Pittura (1960).
