Color-field painters are having a moment during fashion month: After an Ellsworth Kelly hung front-and-center at Loewe on Friday, Albert Kriemler on Sunday displayed a supersized replica of a Leon Polk Smith folding-screen work, signaling the inspiration for his spring Akris collection.
Kriemler discovered and acquired the work after seeing it at a 2023 Zurich exhibition devoted to minimalism, and was captivated by how Polk Smith bifurcated his paintings with all kinds of lines — from curvy to angular — and then filled in the two sides with contrasting colors.
“I also give a line to a fabric, which is interesting,” Kriemler mused during a preview.
You May Also Like
Kriemler had dedicated his entire fall 2025 collection to navy and its variations, so to play with a vaster palette “was a pure playground for me,” he said, lauding Polk Smith’s mastery of color pairings.
The designer opened his show with striking red-and-white ensembles, but there were also many monochromatic looks, the colors applied to a Japanese denim Kriemler swears by. It has a small percentage of stretch and, like all the superb fabrics Akris uses, telegraphs luxury and sophistication.
A suede skirt suit in a deep purple was so saturated with color, you couldn’t take your eyes off it.
Kriemler often splashes the artworks that inspire him on clothing, and these have become collectible. To be sure, single panels of the Polk Smith painting made for eye-catching column dresses, and a terrific east-west leather tote bag.
And then, as a palette cleanser came many lovely and slyly sexy LBDs, the artist’s lines demarcated with matte and shiny materials, or sexy cutouts.
Kriemler also employed a glossy black guipure embroidery of undulating lines for trenchcoats and dresses, bringing Polk Smith’s — and St. Gallen’s — lines to life.
