Albert Kriemler can talk a blue streak about navy, and all the gradations of the color blue, the basis of his splendid fall collection, which tilted more than usual toward cocktail and evening, when that magical “blue hour” occurs.
Hence all the ostrich feathers drifting from the vents of double-face coats, the front of cocktail dresses, on the backs of little military jackets, and most of the high-heeled shoes.
Kriemler has done collections based on a single color or color family in the past — gray for fall 2015, and orange to aubergine for fall 2016 — and he insists this changes his design approach substantially.
“It really forces you to develop even more fabrics, and thinking about volume in a different way,” he said during a preview at the Akris showroom in Paris, the row of blue sleeves in the finest fabrics akin to a petting zoo, only better.
Of course, fabric development is Kriemler’s passion, and he was thrilled to have found in Como, Italy, a stash of sublime Ottoman silk that he used not only for his Duo trench — a two-piece garment that can be worn three ways — but also worker jackets, tuxedos, half-pleated skirts and dresses, relishing its natural luster.
But mostly he went for plush and shaggy textures, mounting shearling in strips on tulle; combing cashmere to resemble shearling, and bonding velvet to neoprene for smooth, sculptural skirt suits and coats.
There were military touches in the tailoring — terrific on a small leather jacket, or a knee-length shirtdress — and a single cyanotype print by artist Alyson Shotz of ghostly swirls that incorporated most of the gradations of blue in the collection.
Kriemler returned to the refectory at the Collège des Bernardins, this time bathing the vaulted, Gothic ceilings in an eerie blue light. It was a nifty effect, but did not allow full appreciation of the fabrics and the sophisticated palette. Visit the showroom to see and feel all those moody blues.
