Albert Kriemler was inspired by Romanian multimedia artist Geta Brătescu, known for the joyful quality of her work and quiet humor for the Akris Spring 2019 RTW collection.

Kriemler was so taken by Brătescu’s use of color and her collage work and their joy-inducing properties that he approached her about a collaboration, the lifeblood of his Swiss label. Brătescu worked for decades, and Kriemler’s varied collection spanned a few of them.

He reproduced her magnet sculptures of the 1970s on characteristically streamlined dresses and separates. The magnets also turned up as hardware closures on sleek black pantsuits. Brătescu’s later work became progressively more playful in spirit (the Romanian revolution coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall, in 1989). Her 2011 collaged self-portrait, in an electric shade of yellow with red lips and blue googly eyes, is easily the most audacious piece Kriemler has ever reproduced. More in keeping with the usually reserved Akris aesthetic were his riffs on Brătescu’s graphic collages.

The most impressive work this season was actually Kriemler’s work with pleats in Paris with plissé soleil (sunray pleats) that were stitched flat, a technological feat.

Follow us backstage of the Akris Spring 2019 fashion show at Le Préau, Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris.