For Akris’s Spring/Summer 2026, creative director Albert Kriemler turns to the language of line and color through the work of Leon Polk Smith, creating a collection that feels both exacting and deeply emotional. Rooted in the pioneering artist’s radical simplicity and bold “color correspondences,” the season unfolds as an exploration of essence rather than excess—where silhouette, fabrication, and movement become vehicles for clarity and expression.
Presented with the quiet confidence synonymous with the house, the collection draws directly from Smith’s distinctive visual vocabulary. Curved lines sweep across dresses and tailoring with architectural precision, while vibrant color pairings interrupt the neutrality often associated with minimalism. The result is a wardrobe that feels charged with energy and intention, balancing discipline with spontaneity. Rather than translating artworks literally, Kriemler enters into a dialogue with Smith’s practice, allowing the artist’s philosophy to inform the very construction of garments.
“What fascinates me about Leon Polk Smith is his radical simplicity—how a few essential elements—line, shape, and color—create work that feels incredibly present,” said Kriemler. “Especially his color pairings stunned me; each color correspondence, as he called his two-colored work, is surprisingly new. And I love that for him, everything begins with the line—it became the starting point for a collection focused on cuts and geometric lines.”
Sculpting Movement Through Fabric
Albert Kriemler Portrait. Courtesy of Akris.
Courtesy of Akris.
That emphasis on line is immediately visible throughout the collection. Long, sculptural coats trace the body with clean arcs, while fluid dresses move with a sense of controlled ease. Tailoring remains a central pillar of the house, yet here it appears softened and liberated. Crisp shirting is paired with lean separates, while the Tuxedo Duo jacket introduces a sharp, pragmatic counterpoint to the season’s more ethereal moments. Leather, rendered light for summer, adds another layer of tactile contrast. Sensuality also hums beneath the surface. One of the collection’s most striking developments comes through drape-fringe knit, an in-house fabrication inspired by Smith’s curvilinear forms. The material contours the body with fluidity and softness, bringing motion to garments that otherwise appear pared back. Elsewhere, sheer embroidered overlays create moments of transparency and tension, adding dimension without disrupting the collection’s clarity.
Kriemler also revisited one of the house’s signature visual motifs: the trapezoid. Appearing in embroidery across dresses and gowns, the shape functions not as decorative embellishment but as structural presence. Executed with couture-like precision, these geometric interventions reinforce the collection’s central dialogue between rigor and emotion, between the graphic and the organic.
Leon Polk Smith’s Lasting Influence
Courtesy of Akris.
The influence of Smith’s artistic legacy extends beyond aesthetics into philosophy. Considered one of the foremost figures of hard-edge Minimalist abstraction, the Oklahoma-born artist developed a visual language defined by pure geometry and expansive spatial relationships. Inspired by the horizons of the American Southwest and Native American artistic traditions, Smith created works in which color and shape exist in dynamic equilibrium. His celebrated “Correspondence” series explored the emotional possibilities of two-color compositions divided by a single line—sometimes curved, sometimes sharp.
For Kriemler, that idea of correspondence became particularly meaningful. “Color and line. Just when you think you have recognized the pared-down principle in Leon Polk Smith’s work, it catches you by surprise,” he said. “In 2023, I visited his exhibition at Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich, and there, commanding the room, was Seven Involvements in One. Vivid, precise, liberated—a free-standing object full of pulse and offbeat bravado. Smith once said he thought of his work as the opposite of minimal. I can relate to that. Akris is about essence, not reduction—about using form and fabric to bring the person into light. It’s not about looking minimal; it’s about being essential.”
Essence Over Minimalism
Courtesy of Akris.
That distinction—between reduction and essence—is especially important in the context of contemporary fashion, where minimalism is often reduced to aesthetic shorthand. Kriemler instead approaches restraint as something emotional and human. Every seam, silhouette, and material choice in the collection appears carefully calibrated to reveal the wearer rather than overwhelm them. The clothes do not seek attention through spectacle; they command it through precision. Accessories continue the conversation between art and fashion, featuring the Alice bag, seen in horsehair and satin, revealing graphic contrast. Defined by clean contours punctuated with flashes of saturated orange, lapis blue, and sunlit yellow, the bag mirrors the visual tension found throughout Smith’s paintings. Throughout, color acts as an interruption, electric against controlled form.
Fashion in Conversation with Art
Courtesy of Akris.
The collaboration also reflects Kriemler’s longstanding commitment to engaging deeply with artists and artistic movements. Over the years, the designer has developed collections informed by figures across painting, photography, architecture, and contemporary art, treating fashion as an interdisciplinary exchange rather than an isolated practice. “For me, a collaboration comes from a deep, long-term engagement with an artist’s work until a dialogue begins,” Kriemler explained. “What keeps it nourishing is a mutual respect—sharing the full design process, rather than simply borrowing or appropriating. It’s never an added extra. It drives the development of new fabrics, workmanship techniques, or cuts. Collaborations excite me and challenge me through the perspective of a creative mind outside of fashion.”
Rather than simply referencing Leon Polk Smith’s work visually, Kriemler translates its emotional and structural intelligence into clothing. The garments carry the same sense of openness and tension found in Smith’s paintings—where a single line can hold immense power, and where simplicity becomes expansive rather than restrictive. The full collection proposes a vision of modern dressing filled with clarity, confidence, and individuality. Through line, color, and form, Kriemler creates a world where precision feels alive at Akris, all while honoring the artistic legacy of Leon Polk Smith.
