Artist Olga de Amaral and Akris Creative Director Albert Kriemler Collaborate on a Textile-Rich Fall-Winter Collection
The celebrated Colombian artist’s influence is felt through texture, movement, and luminosity
Textiles become a shared language in the new collaboration between Swiss fashion house Akris and celebrated Colombian artist Olga de Amaral. For over 60 years, de Amaral has transmuted linen, horsehair, wool, gesso, and gold leaf into dynamic works that challenge traditional notions of what a textile can be.
For Akris creative director Albert Kriemler, who has previously imagined collections with artist Ugo Rondinone and the foundation of Leon Polk Smith, the alliance was a natural evolution. “I have always wanted to collaborate with a textile artist, and I’ve admired Olga de Amaral for years,” says Kriemler. “She is one of the very few artists working with horsehair, also a signature material for Akris, so there was an immediate, almost intuitive connection.”
Although the two first explored partnering on a project nearly a decade ago, the timing finally aligned following de Amaral’s widely acclaimed 2024–25 exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris. Kriemler spent several days with her in Bogotá, immersed in her studio and process. “It confirmed what has always fascinated me: her deep understanding of textiles and color and her ability to give humble fibers a quiet, grounded strength—values we share,” he says.
The fashion designer channeled de Amaral’s philosophy into Akris clothing. “Because her medium is textile itself, I didn’t want to adapt her work literally, but to translate her way of thinking about materials,” he explains. “The result is a collection where textiles aren’t simply a surface treatment but the central narrative.”
In the dresses, coats, and skirts debuting this fall, de Amaral’s influence is felt through texture, movement, and luminosity. A voluminous jacquard coat glimmers like a starry night, while a classic column gown is enlivened by a dramatic swath of gossamer threads.
Gold, a central element in the artist’s work, appears in brocades, shimmering lamé leather, metallic fringe, and wovens. Kriemler admits that gold is not traditionally part of Akris’s visual vocabulary, but de Amaral’s approach changed his thinking. “Her gold leaf transforms textile into light, yet it has a real subtlety—more artful than ornamental,” he says. “It doesn’t shout; it glows.”
Ultimately, the collaboration continues an ongoing conversation about the role of art and craft in fashion. Here, Kriemler is very clear: “Craft is where creativity starts. Our job is to carry it forward, making it feel modern, fresh, and relevant.”
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2026 Fall Issue under the headline “Gilded Age.” Subscribe to the magazine.