Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/262375
000 BAL HARBOUR particularly in tune with what American women are looking for in their designer clothing purchases. According to Colleen Sherin, the senior fashion director of Saks Fifth Avenue, Akris' success in the United States comes from a number of critical factors that the brand is able to faultlessly blend together: "There is the focus on the finest materials, the impeccable tailoring and the designs that are classic and timeless, offering just enough fashion to be current and relevant. It's a brand that is truly defined by understated luxury." Kriemler remembers first registering the power of fashion when he was a very young boy, watching the effect that his mother would have on people when she would arrive at events looking modern and elegant. So keen was his eye that he still remembers a yellow, lacquered Courrèges coat and also an ecru, heavy wool crêpe Ted Lapidus coat she wore when he was about seven years old. It is this attention to detail and the designer's fascination with incorporating new fabrics into his work that has helped push Akris to the higher echelons of ready-to- wear fashion. It's why Kriemler has found loyal customers in the likes of H.S.H. Princess Charlene of Monaco, whose cool grace and statuesque beauty is a living and breathing incarnation of the Akris ethos. Kriemler is a bit of a Renaissance man. His interests are as diverse as they are heartfelt. Art and literature, as well as architecture, film, nature and modern photography, intrigue him; he is ceaselessly in search of new avenues of inspiration. Currently, the European spacecraft Rosetta, which has been traveling through the cosmos since 2004, captivates him. Its purpose? "To chase a comet and put a satellite on its surface 800 million kilometers from Mother Earth this August to find out what really happened during the Big Bang," explains the designer. One area of Kriemler's work where all of this exploration comes into fine focus is through the vibrant prints he uses in each of his collections. They've been as diverse as the images of Formula 1 racecars to streetlamps, to green algae and honeycombs. It's more often than not that these prints set the tone and steer a collection into a particular direction. This clever use of prints has helped to keep Kriemler on message with his designs. He presently produces 10 collections a year, so he admits that his creative process is rather structured, although he confesses that most moments of inspiration come to him while he's traveling. And when he's not on the road for the house, he's hard at work at the brand's headquarters. By 8 a.m., he's in his atelier working with his design team and doesn't leave his desk until at least 7 p.m. If he has any free time, Kriemler likes to spend it with his close-knit group of friends. But it's clear that nurturing the Akris brand into the next century of its existence is at the heart of everything that Kriemler does. For the designer, the continued prosperity of Akris comes down to getting a few fundamental fashion elements right: "It's about looking fabulous, but it's also about feeling at ease and experiencing a certitude that is enhanced by the best of fabrics and the perfect cut and fit. It has to feel right all the time. This is happiness for me. It's exciting to witness a new generation of dedicated, open-minded and sleek women discovering Akris." "I grew up amidst patterns and seamstresses in the fashion house my grandmother had founded. It was a natural thing—fashion is in the roots of my family." — Albert Kriemler Above, looks from Akris' Spring 2014 collection; Kriemler with Princess Charlene of Monaco 182 BAL HARBOUR