Akris creative director, Albert Kriemler, will be honored by The Couture Council of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, FIT announced at a cocktail celebration last night. The event, which will be held at the Lincoln Center David H. Koch Theater in September in tandem with Fall NYFW, has become a tradition of sorts, and will benefit The Museum at FIT. Kriemler, who will receive the 2016 Couture Council Award, has attracted an impressive clientele over the years, including Angelina Jolie, Princess Charlene of Monaco, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“Since my first visit to New York, I have made every effort not to miss an exhibition at The Museum at FIT,” said Albert Kriemler. “Valerie Steele and her team succeed in creating pioneering and unexpected exhibitions with a creativity and courage that continue to fascinate and surprise. I feel so deeply honored and excited to be this year’s recipient of the Couture Council Award for Artistry in Fashion. Designers visit exhibitions to be inspired, and curators of museums are inspired by designers. Let us celebrate this spirit of cross-inspiration and the Couture Council’s tremendous effort to make these directional exhibitions possible.”
“Akris is best-known for luxurious minimalism,” Steele said, who’s the director of The Museum at FIT and chair of the Couture Council Advisory Board. “You won’t find richer, more beautiful fabrics anywhere. But there is much more to Akris than luxury. Albert Kriemler, the designer at Akris, is obsessed with making clothes modern. As Linda Fargo once put it: ‘Albert is someone who has improved the quality of life through design.’ What women appreciate about Akris is that they wear the clothes, the clothes don’t wear them. Not surprisingly, some of the most accomplished women in the world appreciate the cool confidence that Akris gives them.”
The Couture Council Artistry of Fashion award winner is chosen annually by the Couture Council Advisory Board, which includes Glenda Bailey, Hamish Bowles, Ken Downing, Linda Fargo, Nicole Fischelis, Akiko Fukai, Pamela Golbin, Patricia Mears, and Suzy Menkes. This year’s luncheon will be headed by co-hairs Lisa Klein and Audrey Gruss.
BY ALISON LO
Valerie Steele, Dr. Joyce F. Brown
