“When a woman walks into a room, I want people to notice her personality first and her clothing second.” – Albert Kriemler
Akris is a Swiss design house, founded in 1922 by Alice Kriemler-Schoch. The founder began her business by sewing dotted Swiss aprons on her home sewing machine. The dotted Swiss is still reflected today in the gift boxes and tissue paper used by the firm. Always thinking creatively, Alice came up with the name Akris by combining letters from her name. In 1944, her son Max Kriemler took over the business, and eventually his own sons Albert and Peter took the reins.
The design house is known for hiring local artisans to design and construct their simple yet innovative clothing. Their clothes are constructed using fine materials and focus on streamlined silhouttes without a lot of frippery. It’s not surprising Princess Charlene has found style success with this approach. An athlete and a tall, fit woman, she too is not given to a lot of frills.
Below, Princess Charlene and Albert Kriemler.
Charlene wore the ladylike suit shown below to the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011. I am a sucker for these large portrait collars, so this shoots right up there to my favorites. It works with Charlene’s frame, too. It was thought that Charlene would wear Armani to the wedding, but according to Akris, Charlene contacted their salon only two weeks before the ceremony. She ordered both her evening gown for the pre-wedding event (unfortunately, we don’t have photos of it but the Royal Courturier has some blurry shots) and her suit for the wedding from the design house.
The princess continued to patronize Akris frequently during the early years of her public life. Below, Charlene with Peter Kriemler at Fashion Week in 2013, wearing a simple Akris shift. Charlene in her sweet spot, right there.
Charlene sported an Akris tone on tone velvet for the 2017 National Day mass.
Below are sampling of the simple yet powerful styles Akris has designed for both National Day and Sainte-Devote celebrations. The suits flatter, fit beautifully, and make a simple statement.
Charlene does not wear Akris as frequently as she once did. I feel that they did right by her for many high profile events, and hope to see her turn to them again.
Next week we head north, to visit with a certain Scandinavian Crown Princess and her wedding dress designer.