Fashion

Akris Women’s RTW Fall 2023

Published

3 weeks ago

March 5, 2023

The ‘70s have been making a comeback since the pre-fall collections — and since forever if you think about it. Albert Kriemler is a fan.

“The ’70s were a fabulous moment,” the longtime creative director of Akris enthused during a preview. “They always looked young and fresh.…It was a moment of freedom and ease.”

The designer recently discovered three boxes of paper patterns from that decade, a linchpin one for the Kriemler family since in 1972, his father Max bought an atelier in Zurich specializing in double-face, which would become one of the brand’s key calling cards as it pivoted from aprons to luxury ready-to-wear.

Kriemler used a good number of those archival patterns for his fall Akris collection as the firm celebrates its centenary, updating familiar silhouettes like flared pants and fluted skirts in very 2023 fabrics like Neoprene, some with a velvety surface.

He noted that fits had to be adapted, as women’s physiology has changed, but he kept the spirit of the era, devising a geometric print in browns and orange, and selecting an abstract floral circa 1976 from famed silk supplier Abraham that he found in the archive.

Designed by Abraham’s owner Gustav Zumsteg, it features on gauzy prairie dresses and intarsia shearlings that are marvels of craftsmanship. Kriemler noted that Zumsteg brought him along to a few Yves Saint Laurent haute couture shows in the mid-1970s, cementing his ambition to design clothes.

By now, Kriemler is a whiz at devising silhouettes from luscious textiles, leading a visitor to a little tennis dress in cashmere flannel that melts in the hand and a checkered coat in a sturdier double-face wool.

Akris made the fashion pack trek out to the gritty 19th arrondissement for the cavernous event space Le 104. Sneakers and chunky hiking boots were good for the concrete floor, and helped blunt the retro feel of bell-bottom pantsuits. But on that vast runway, the clothes lost some of the luster they emitted in the showroom.

Kriemler is gearing up for a large-scale exhibition charting the history of the fashion house at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, which is dedicated to industrial design, visual communication, architecture and craft. It opens to the public on May 12 and runs through Sept. 24.

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Fashion

Claire McCardell’s American Style to Be Spotlighted at Museum at FIT

Published

3 hours ago

March 29, 2023

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The renewed interest in the work of Claire McCardell is still going strong, with the Museum at FIT gearing up for Wednesday’s opening of “Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation.”

Decades have passed since the designer pioneered the American look, but her influence on American sportswear prevails. Zippers, pockets, ballet flats and wrap dresses were all part of the designer’s arsenals of firsts. Tory Burch, whose spring-summer 2022 collection was inspired by McCardell, is a champion of her work. Somehow, 65 years after her death in 1958 at the age of 52, the designer’s work is gaining more interest with new generations of creatives.

Strong-willed and pragmatic, McCardell’s indelible mark — the understated (but not undone) casual American look — was forward-thinking in the previously cookie-cutter dressing of the mid-’50s. Well-proportioned and affordable, her clothes, which spanned from bathing suits to ready-to-wear, were designed with a wide range of body types in mind. Understanding that “clothes may make the woman, but the woman can also make the clothes,” McCardell once said, “When the dress runs away with the woman, it’s a horror.”

Nine McCardell-crafted garments drawn from the Study Collection at the Museum at FIT will be on display through April 16 on the FIT campus. Seniors in the school’s art history and museum professions undergraduate program Nico Frederick, Christina Pene, and Emma Sosebee have curated the show, which also includes reproductions of advertising,

In addition to the student-curated show at the Museum at FIT, the “Claire McCardell” exhibition is on view at the Maryland Center for History and Culture’s Museum in Baltimore through November. McCardell’s designs are featured with family letters, interviews and archival documents. The show was curated by the Tory Burch Claire McCardell fashion fellow Robyn Levy, whose fellowship was made possible by the Tory Burch Foundation. Last year Burch penned the foreword for the reissue of McCardell’s 1956 book “What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When and How Much of Fashion.”

On another front, the Museum at FIT will unveil “¡Moda Hoy! Latin American and Latinx Fashion Design Today” on May 31. The exhibition will celebrate the work of designers of Latin American descent including stalwarts like Aldolfo Sardiña, Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Edmundo Castillo, Victor Alfaro, and Haider Ackermann, as well as Willy Chavarria, Maria Cornejo, Isabel Toledo, Gabriela Hearst, Jonathan Cohen, Nous Etudions’ Romina Cardillo, Luar’s Raul Lopez and Kika Vargas. With text in English and Spanish, the show will feature 60 objects from the museum’s permanent collection, including multiple new acquisitions. The show will run through Nov. 12.

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Fashion

Diane von Furstenberg Exhibition Slated for Brussels Fashion & Lace Museum

Published

3 hours ago

March 29, 2023

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Diane von Furstenberg will be the subject of an upcoming exhibition at The Fashion and Lace Museum in Brussels, where the designer was born.

“Woman Before Fashion,” which will be on view from April 21 to Jan. 7, 2024, will explore von Furstenberg’s career in fashion with a focus on the iconic wrap dress, as the silhouette prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024.

The museum’s curator, Nicolas Lor, has divided the exhibition into four chapters, recognizing von Furstenberg as both a person and a designer. The pieces presented in the exhibition came from the archives of the House of Diane von Furstenberg.

“It is both exciting and emotional to be honored with the first European exhibition of my work in my native city, Brussels,” said von Furstenberg.

The Fashion & Lace Museum, founded in 1977, is housed in a group of historic houses in the heart of Brussels close to the Grand-Place. It holds some 20,000 items. Lace, clothing and accessories are on display dating from the 16th century. Its collections are the most important in the world for Brussels’ creation and clothing.

As reported, Lor has also written a book called “Woman Before Fashion,” which will be published by Rizzoli in late September and ties in with the exhibition. The book features nostalgic and contemporary photographs of DVF’s journey as a designer, featuring original essays discussing the intersection of DVF and her designs with feminism, gender politics and entrepreneurship. It also shows the wrap dress worn by DVF, and models such as Jerry Hall, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford.

In addition, von Furstenberg is the subject of a documentary being directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a Pakistani-Canadian journalist, filmmaker and activist, which will be out in January on Hulu.

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Fashion

G-Star Raw Releases AI-designed Denim Collection

Published

8 hours ago

March 28, 2023

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G-Star Raw is going deeper into the technology space with its latest denim launch.

The fashion brand on Tuesday released an AI-designed denim collection that was created with AI app Midjourney. With the app, G-Star Raw created 12 cape-like denim designs and ultimately manufactured one style, which will be displayed at the brand’s Antwerp store.

“Innovation is ingrained in the G-Star DNA,” said Gwenda van Vliet, chief merchandising officer at G-Star Raw. “We believe in giving our fashion designers the freedom to bring their dreams through AI. While anyone could make a design using AI, at G-Star Raw we have the craftsmanship to make those designs into real garments. We should see AI as enhancing the creative process, rather than taking it over.”

G-Star Raw’s AI-designed denim collection falls in line with the recent wave of AI technology infiltrating the fashion industry. There have been apps such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, which are art and image generators, and ChatGPT, which generates elaborate written responses based on a user’s prompt.

While these AI platforms are still new to the fashion world, some companies have already started embracing them. For example, Pantone looked to Midjourney last December to create an immersive visual experience for its 2023 Pantone color of the year, Viva Magenta.

The AI-designed collection is also G-Star Raw’s first major initiative of the year. Last year the brand introduced a “Haute Denim” hat collection created by designer Stephen Jones. The brand also released a campaign last fall featuring model Cara Delevingne for its fall denim campaign.

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