An exhibition by the St.Gallen fashion label Akris has long been on the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich’s wish list. With “Akris. Fashion. of course” this vision is now becoming reality. But the focus is not only on the hundred-year-old family tradition, creative director Albert Kriemler or fashion, but also – or above all – a dialogue with art. In an interview, curator Karin Gimmi talks about the exhibition, working with Albert Kriemler and the interaction of fashion, art and their creators.
Ms. Gimmi, “Akris. Fashion. Of course” – what can visitors expect from the exhibition?
It will be a high quality art exhibition that will feature fashion, or it will be a fashion exhibition that will also feature art.
The focus, and you can take that literally, are twelve “worlds of inspiration” and collections from the years 2009 to 2022. We confront the looks of Akris with various works by artists that creative director Albert Kriemler has dealt with intensively.
Akris – From the apron studio to the international fashion label
Albert Kriemler has been the creative director of his family’s company since 1980. The then nineteen-year-old Kriemler was originally supposed to take up an apprenticeship in Hubert de Givenchy’s couture studio, but when his father’s business partner Max Kriemler – who was running the business at the time – suddenly died, the young designer’s plans changed. Today, Akris is synonymous with Alber Kriemler, but the name itself is a reference to the initials of his grandmother, Alice Kriemler-Schoch, who opened a shooting studio in 1922, which over the years has evolved into Akris.
Are there certain areas dedicated to the time before Albert Kriemler?
In addition to these “inspirational worlds”, it was important to us that we can provide insight into the way the family business works and what its history is. You will learn something about Albert Kriemler’s ancestors, namely his grandmother. Alice Kriemler-Schoch founded an apron sewing company in 1922, which is the origin of today’s fashion house. His father Max established the important connections to Paris and Akris began to produce collections for the then hip fashion designers Ted Lapidus and Hubert de Givenchy.
As a curator, it is important to me to show what something is based on. We like to look back and Akris likes to do the same in this case, even if a fashion label has to think primarily about what tomorrow should be like.
Is that the biggest difference between fashion and art? Art looks into the past. fashion in the future?
As a museum, we have a historical mission. It is a commonplace that fashion is fast-moving. But this is exactly where their strengths are revealed and something happens when the world of art meets fashion. It is equally stimulating when the work of a museum begins to mix with the work of a fashion company, as is the case in the Akris exhibition project.
Akris is known for tailoring. Art is always a craft, fashion has temporarily forgotten this due to the fast pace of life and fast fashion. To what extent was it important to you to celebrate the craft?
Akris naturally stands for this craft, for this Swiss or European craft. It’s about showing a wide audience what’s behind this fashion, how much artistic and technical effort, what a wealth of ideas. The majority of our audience does not afford this fashion. But our visitors should be able to understand what makes the difference to something inexpensive. It’s about creating understanding for the craft, the know-how, the people behind it and ultimately the sustainability of such a fashion company.
Is this exhibition the first time that you have worked with a designer who is as closely connected to art as Kriemler?
No not that. That as such was not special for me, but the way Albert Kriemler works with these artists. That increased my fascination and admiration. He tries to tease something different out of every cooperation. Sometimes he transfers something to the fabric, to the production of the fabric, then to the cut, then to the way he conceives the looks. It’s different every time.
You just said that the way Albert Kriemler worked with the artists was special for you, what makes the collaboration so unique?
Not only was he in contact with all the artists represented in the exhibition, he also maintained an intensive personal exchange with each person. He has dealt intensively with their works and with the concerns of the artists. In the juxtaposition of art and fashion, one really understands the Akris looks in the end.
They have chosen to present the designs in a dialogue with various artworks, sculptures and collages. How did that happen?
That actually developed in the very close cooperation with Kriemler. At a certain point in the design process, it was very clear that this exhibition should reflect the dialogue he maintains with selected artists and their work. And seen in this way, this exhibition is actually also an art exhibition. We will be showing a great many originals – larger works, smaller works, those from museums and those from private collections.
The artists featured alongside Kriemler’s work all inspired previous Akris collections, can you reveal more about the collaboration process?
An important figure, who has also been friends with Kriemler for a long time, is the German photo artist Thomas Ruff. For example, Ruff assumed images of Mars that already existed. He continued to experiment with these photographically and brought them into three dimensions. For his part, Kriemler has now taken on this motif in order to print it on very different fabrics. The results are overwhelming: The fabrics are a masterpiece and were created in close collaboration and experimentation with Ruff. Such an exchange is of course also interesting for the artists, such a collaboration is much more satisfying than just taking a motif and printing it on a t-shirt. Or even just using an artist’s name to get attention.
In Kriemler’s fashion, however, there are also discussions with female artists who were not yet so well known. This is Geta Brătescu, a Romanian artist who Albert Kriemler was able to get to know personally, she has since passed away. I’m also fascinated by the fact that he doesn’t just go after the big names, but that he really discovers people and seeks a very idiosyncratic approach to them. This includes, for example, the German painter Reinhard Voigt. An exciting character to discover. You can come to the exhibition and come across artists you’ve hardly heard of before. From the artistic point of view, Albert Kriemler turned to very different figures and their work.
“Akris. Fashion. of course” – explain the name to me?
The whole project for the 100th anniversary, Akris himself put under this motto. Akris himself takes his fashion for granted. That is the goal that Akris pursues with fashion, that it comes across as natural to the wearer.
Is this matter-of-factness of fashion transferred to the visitors of the exhibition?
I would like the public to see the art of fashion, not the fine arts, but to see what’s inside, and that’s anything but a matter of course.
Speaking of audiences – some tracks will be hands-on, right?
Yes, that will be the same. We wished that you could touch certain things. You will be very close to fashion, we will show as little as possible, practically nothing, behind glass. That’s a challenge for us as a museum, and you don’t usually do that with fashion exhibitions. It is important to us not to approach fashion at a distance, but at eye level. That was a concern of Albert Kriemler, which we were very happy to follow. Kriemler doesn’t see his fashion as art. He’s a creative director, it’s his creations, but it’s not art. It’s wearable fashion.
Would you disagree with him, is his fashion art?
I wouldn’t disagree with him, but I would say that the approach he takes is a very artistic one. He himself thinks and creates like an artist. It’s not his fashion. This is where this aspect of the obvious comes in. Albert Kriemler works in a team with many outstanding specialists. In the end, artistic inspiration becomes wearable fashion.
Is there something to point out in “Akris. Fashion. of course” are particularly proud?
I am particularly proud that we managed to bring very large format works into the house in a very short time. Imi Knoebel is an exciting character. I’m so excited now. We’re going to be showing five huge pieces of his and I’m excited to see how that works out with the looks we’re going to put next to it. You can’t really imagine that, no matter how well prepared you are, you can’t see it in front of your eyes. You simply have to see it there!
One last question, you talked a lot about the close collaboration between Kriemler and the various artists. How intensive was your personal exchange with Mr. Kriemler?
Very intensive. We made all decisions together. As you can imagine, that was a challenge for us too, since he also had his show in Paris at the same time. But Albert Kriemler is always here and we work on the details. It is always a very intensive fruitful exchange and a joint curation.
The exhibition “Akris. Fashion. course” runs from May 12 to September 24, 2023 at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich.