For Spring 2027, Albert Kriemler looked to Austrian artist Martha Jungwirth, translating the expressive force of her paintings into a collection that felt less like an exercise in literal interpretation and more like an instinctive conversation between art, textile and the body.
The effect was immediately visible in the colour. Reds, pinks and violets appeared in lush, almost intoxicating combinations, layered and blurred much as they are across Jungwirth’s canvases. These were colours with feeling rather than simply visual impact, what Jungwirth calls “Gefühlsfarben,” felt as much as seen.
But if colour provided the emotion, textile provided the vocabulary. This is particularly significant at Akris, a house born in St. Gallen in 1922 as an apron atelier founded by Albert Kriemler’s grandmother, Alice Kriemler-Schoch. Her original aprons were made with the world-renowned cotton and embroidery of the region, establishing a relationship with textile craft that remains fundamental to the house today. St. Gallen’s embroidery tradition became internationally renowned, and Akris continues to work with the region’s specialist embroidery houses to develop new fabrics and techniques.
That lineage could be felt throughout this collection. Kriemler loosened tailoring without sacrificing Akris’s characteristic precision, while featherlight knits, delicate structures, ribbons, fringe and exposed construction gave the clothes an almost weightless quality. Reversed jacquards revealed their inner workings; frayed threads and open structures allowed the process of making to remain visible.
It is precisely this sensitivity to fabric that has long distinguished Kriemler’s work. At Akris, fabric is not treated as a finishing touch but as the starting point of design, with the house renowned for its double-face fabrics, cashmere and innovative St. Gallen embroidery. For Spring 2027, that philosophy felt especially alive. The textiles seemed to have their own personalities, some structured and architectural, others soft, trailing and almost fluid.
The apron was perhaps the most direct connection between Akris’s past and its present. Appearing in petite iterations, it referenced Jungwirth’s own working wardrobe while returning Akris to its origins. Embroidery also recalled a design by Kriemler’s grandmother Alice from the 1950s, making the connection feel less like nostalgia than a continuation of an ongoing textile conversation.
And then there was the movement. Nothing seemed overly fixed. Garments shifted with the body, straps dangled, ribbons trailed and layers settled naturally as the models walked. The clothes had an ease that made even the more intricate textile work feel effortless. Rather than presenting craft as something precious and untouchable, Kriemler allowed it to move, breathe and become part of everyday life.
The beautiful light in the venue only heightened the effect. It gave the colours a particular richness and allowed the textures to reveal themselves as the collection passed through the space. There was something almost painterly about watching the textiles catch the light and then disappear into shadow, echoing Jungwirth’s own interest in layering, receding and returning.
Rather than reproducing Jungwirth’s paintings, Kriemler captured their energy while grounding the collection in something deeply Akris: an almost obsessive understanding of material. The result was a thoughtful meeting of artist and fashion house, where colour, craft and movement came together with unusual ease. For a house whose history began with St. Gallen textiles and embroidery, it felt like a particularly natural place for this conversation to happen.
Photos courtesy of Akris