Akris does Alexander Girard

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Oct 1, 2017

Albert Kriemler, the designer and driving force behind Akris, has always had a fondness for applied artists. This season he riffed on a particularly special one – Alexander Hayden Girard, the star of a retrospective last year that particularly impressed the Swiss designer.

 
The result: a bright, naive and giddy collection from Akris and a welcome change of gears by the single most influential designer living in Mittel-Europe.
 
Hence the asymmetrical, collage-like and quirky murals of Girard were translated into summer cocktails, whose long strands of fabric recalled Girard’s desert-colored sketches for his Santa Fe home.  

While his abstract plywood sculptures informed the multiple leaf cutout invitation to the show, staged before cutout kiddy creature statues that made up the backdrop.
 
“I was fascinated by the Alexander Girard exhibition in Vitra Design Museum last year, and everything flowed from there. I just loved his rich colors and sense of adventure,” volunteered Kriemler in his backstage.