The fashion flock may be getting ready for London Fashion Week but one brand at least has beaten themto it. Akris, possibly the most successful label you've never heard of, has taken Manhattan and is in the midst of a stealth invasionof London, thanks to a new Bond Street store.
So what is Akris? First of all, it's Swiss. It's family-owned. And its formula is simple: take the most luxurious fabrics and create a line for women focusing on confident jacket shapes, fragile blouses and cocktail dresses.
"Clothes should enhance the personality, never hide it," says the designer and owner, Albert Kriemler, aka "the next Armani" (who is in town for the One Night Only Emporio Armani show in the English capital).
Naming any designer in the same breath as one of fashion's gods is dangerous. Yet Kriemler's creations for Akris offer both high-end career wear and evening wear for the kind of woman who wants to look great but never gaudy. Like Armani, Kriemler is also obsessed with fabric. And like Armani, Akris sells.
It is one of the top performers at Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Holt Renfrew in Toronto.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the actress Susan Sarandon - political polar opposites - share a dedication to the line.
Although it has taken time for Akris to arrive in the UK, the label is not remotely new. Akris is an acronym from the name of Kriemler's grandmother, Alice Kriemler-Schoch, who founded it as an apron company in 1922. After the sudden death of her husband in 1944 the business passed to her eldest son, Max, who transformed it into a dress business renowned for quality. It even manufactured for Hubertde Givenchy.
In 1980 Albert, Max's eldest son, joined the company, followed by his brother, Peter, who is now the company president. "The two of us decide," says Albert. When their father handed over control in 1987, he and Peter chose to forge Akris into a fashion label focusing on exquisite quality and modern, seemingly simple clothes. They have decided not to diversify into handbags, shoes or fragrance.
"We don't have accessories. We don't have licences. We need to do fashion well," says the Kriemler, who is the first Swiss designer to be invited to show on the official Paris fashion calendar.
The brothers have invested in state-of-the-art computer cutting as well as people who cut cuffs and hems by hand. And everything is created in Switzerland. Kriemler sees being based in the town of St Gallen as an advantage.
"I have a much more fruitful day than if I designed in Milan or Paris. I can be very independent and efficient," he says. "Coming from a small country and yet being right at the centre of Europe means we Swiss can move in all directions."
www.akris.ch
