Fashion designers have messy feelings about anniversaries. Major milestones have the unfortunate effect of highlighting the passage of time, something they’re always battling as official purveyors of what’s hot and what’s new.
As Swedish label Acne Studios turns 30, creative director Jonny Johansson is no exception. “I’m really scared of looking back,” he confessed. “I live for the next thing I want to do.”
Still, as he flipped through his mental library, images came bubbling up. There was the reception at 10 Downing Street where the U.K.’s then-prime minister David Cameron mingled with guests while cradling his baby daughter.
Then there was the time Acne staged a show in Lord Snowdon’s apartment at Kensington Palace. That memory was the springboard for Johansson’s fall collection, which drew an eclectic front row, with Chappell Roan, Rosanna Arquette and Vivian Wilson taking in the show.
A huge fan of “The Crown,” the designer captured the royal family’s horsy elegance with box-pleated tweed skirts, riding suits, twin sets and silk scarves that trailed all the way to the floor. Even his signature biker jackets were given a ladylike spin, with shrunken versions in baby pink or blue.
But this is Acne, so the preppy wardrobe had an off-kilter edge, underscored by the moody Portishead soundtrack. A classic beige blazer was worn with a cable knit sweater, hortensia print pants, and comically pointy knee boots ringed with fur.
And a couple of his neo-bourgeois day dresses were printed with portraits from photographer Paul Kooiker’s recent show at the Acne gallery space in Palais-Royal – a nod to the brand’s roots as a creative collective.
So is Johansson finally ready to embrace his legacy? “I didn’t feel like I had to fight anything old,” he mused. “I really want to be safe and secure, and make something modern of things that are heritage for us.”
