Akris has opened its ninth freestanding store in the United States — a 3,500-square-foot unit in Chicago.
Located at 101 East Oak Street in the city’s Gold Coast neighborhood, it stands out from its neighbors with its black metal and glass structure framing the building’s original red brick facade.
It reflects a new design concept realized in partnership with David Chipperfield Architects Milan.
According to Akris, its creative director Albert Kriemler worked closely with Chipperfield on the modernist grid fronting the boutique, which is attached to the original masonry.
“It was important for us to preserve the historic facade while also introducing something new,” Kriemler said. “David’s work acknowledges that architecture is not a static artifact. This is also what I love about fashion: there is always an evolution.”
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The designer said he was happy to find a prime spot in the Gold Coast. “Oak Street has always been special — its rich history, grand architecture, its people. We are proud to be a new part of this neighborhood,” he said.
Handbags and accessories are given pride of place near the entrance of the narrow boutique, with Akris and Akris Punto ready-to-wear collections ringing parts of the vast, rectangular room.
A staircase in the same Pietra di Vicenza Grigia stone as the flooring leads up to a second level dedicated mainly to rtw. Fitting rooms are lined with ivory horsehair, a material Akris uses for many of its handbags.
Pleated paneling in painted maple wood adorn the walls and ceiling, while aluminum rails and shelves are suspended from fine, nearly invisible cables.
Founded in 1922 in St. Gallen, Switzerland, Akris has shown its collections during Paris Fashion Week since 2004.
The family-owned firm operates 11 additional boutiques in Europe and Asia, subsidiaries in Japan, the United States and South Korea, and has about 300 other points of sale, spanning concessions and wholesale partners.
It’s a big moment for the Swiss brand in the U.S.: On Monday in New York City, it is set to premiere “Akris, Fashion With a Heritage,” a 90-minute documentary by Reiner Holzemer.
