AKNVAS: New York City Monarchy
AKNVAS is a newer brand that has received a lot of well deserved coverage, not only because of the innovative designs, but the career history of designer and founder, Christian Nielsen. Both designer, and the brand has been featured in Vogue, WWD, as well as a number of other publications. Presenting womenswear as well as menswear, Christian leverages his experience at Dior, Nina Ricci, and Oscar de la Renta, as well as working for fashion leaders such as John Galliano, Raf Simons, and Christian Lacroix.
The collection shows a distinction in the men’s pieces and women’s pieces in the level of formality between the two. When asked about the creative process, Christian provided the following details “For menswear, I very much think about what I would like to wear myself, not necessarily me, but someone in the life I’m living, the life I have, and where I am right now. This translates into an elevated level of casual wear that can also translate into evening.”
For the women, the objective is the same, with the objective being “Day to Dinner”. Christian described his vision for the models to walk “as though they were Manhattan Royalty”. The designer said the following, “For women’s wear, I never think about myself, I think about the women I surround myself with, I see my friends as my muses.” When asked about the balance of professionalism to something sexy Christian replied “I think about the times we live in, and I think the times have changed a lot since the pandemic. It’s less conservative and more experimental. I like the idea of the looks that can be worn from day time and evening, and not look ridiculous, but look great on all occasions.”
The overall collection reflected his experimental vision and focused on bombastic, camp-inspired concept pieces. This was particularly evident in his use of ruffles and large silhouettes. The colors that were highly featured in the collection were an acid yellow or as the designer calls it “green mustard, it doesn’t mean anything but it’s how Ii remember it, because it’s not mustard, it’s green mustard.” Other colors that stood out were lavender, a light teal and a “deep mustard.” New features for this collection were fake furs and tech fabrics, as Christian mentioned “We have ball gowns in tech fabrics, and not silks, it’s all tech fabric, and everything is man made, for the evening wear, it’s a lot of man made materials, I want that Japanese tech fabric vibe, in the evening wear”
Interview and words by: Mariele Marki
Photography + Editor: Victoria Bruno, https://www.victoriabrunostudios.com
Location: Spring Studios Mezzanine – PR Firm: Agentry PR – Designer: Christian Juul Nielsen
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