Akris Women’s RTW Spring 2023

Akris looked 100 years young on Saturday night in Paris. The family-owned Swiss fashion house is marking its centennial and creative director Albert Kriemler sent out a smooth, sprightly collection steeped in what he calls “timeless modernity.”

He kicked off the open-air display at the foot of the Palais de Tokyo with a belted wrap coat in double-face cashmere that his father, Max, created in 1978. It was one of nine looks plucked from the archives, most of them from the ‘80s and a few from the early ‘90s, mingled in with the new collection.

If you didn’t read the press notes or Akris’ new anniversary book, you might never know some of the looks were more than 30 years old, save for the oversize gold buttons and puff sleeves on some tailored coats and jackets.

To figure out what’s vintage, you’d have to carefully read the run of show, at which point you would probably get distracted by the mouthwatering list of sumptuous fabrics: pearlized napa leather, silk taffeta, cotton-silk gabardine and double-face cotton-linen.

Exceptional fabrics are the foundation of the St. Gallen-based firm, and a principle inspiration for Kriemler, who exalts them with streamlined designs and exacting fits.

He grounded most of the exits on chunky Superga high tops, which thrust Ladies Who Lunch skirt suits into the present day. The leather pieces were terrific: snap-front shirt jackets, elongated bomber jackets and cool-looking pants.

The show climaxed with six sleeveless silk georgette gowns in the same rainbow colors as the Ugo Rondinone artwork installed in front of a reflecting pool. “We are poems,” it read.

Later, about 250 of the show guests repaired to the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris for a celebratory dinner, where Akris president Peter Kriemler had personally chosen two of the finest Swiss wines. Cheers!