Luxe without a logo: in the high-voltage world of fashion, where iconic logos and celebrated designers are the rule, St-Gallen-based Akris has scored international success while remaining resolutely low-key.
| Auteur | Krienke, Mary |
| Fonction | FASHION SPECIAL - Company overview |
St-Gallen is far removed from the hype and hurly-burly of the world's fashion centres. Yet here, quietly, a third-generation family-owned company makes its own fashion waves with understated clothes that set new standards of modern luxury.
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What is amazing about Akris is that it has achieved its estimable position by ignoring the rules. It has no logo-brandishing handbags or other accessories, no signature fragrance, no licensees. It also does very little advertising.
Albert Kriemler, the low profile, soft-spoken designer and key contributor to the firm's success, takes strong exception to the current assumption that the fashion business is all about brand development. "Today it's the product that sells," he says. "All our competitors are billion-dollar companies. We would not exist if it was all about brands and marketing."
Earmarks of Kriemler's designs are their clean, architectural lines, their exquisite fabrics and a compulsive attention to detail. There is also a serenity about them, which may be one reason why they appeal to women who lead fast-paced lives.
But there are frequent touches of fantasy, as well. It takes a sure hand to combine a zipped-up leather jacket with the gentle flutter of a pleated organza skirt.
Akris was admitted to the rarefied world of Paris' Chambre Syndicale, the regulating body of the French fashion industry, in 2000 but waited four years before joining their semi-annual, headline-generating fashion shows. Kriemler decided to delay participation until he could secure a choice spot on the calendar: following Chanel. The Akris spring/summer 2008 collection will be shown in Paris' Cours du Louvre at 11:30 on October 3.
Acronym on the label
When I ask Albert Kriemler why, in these celebrity designer days, his name doesn't appear on the label, he seems surprised.
"It does," he responds, reaching for a sheet of paper. "The 'A' is for Albert"--and also for Alice, his grandmother, who started the business in 1922, stitching up polka dot aprons on her sewing machine. "The 'KRI' stands for Kriemler and the 'S' stands for either my grandmother's maiden name, Schoch, St-Gallen or Switzerland. You can take your pick."
Kriemler says that he knew since he was a child that he would go into the family business. The decisive moment, however, came during a one-week trip to New York, just after completing his maturite. He recalls that what made the most vivid impression was Bergdorf Goodman, the epitome...
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