Acne’s Eclectic Quirky Cool
Review of Acne Studios Spring 2025 Fashion Show
By Mark Wittmer
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Eclectic. Warped. Textural. Quirky.
At Acne Studios’ Spring 2025 show, the seating arrangement among which guests found themselves was itself a part of the show. Created by Philadelphia-based painter Jonathon Lyndon Chase, whose work feels centered around blurring boundaries – whether between genders, art forms, or bodies – the set formed a softly chaotic and surreal rendition of a comfortable domestic space among which celebrity guests like Willow Smith and ILLIT casually reclined.
This space of deconstructed domesticity was a fitting environment for creative director Jonny Johansson’s practice of distorting our perceptions of familiar garment categories and classic styles through experiments in proportion and unexpected combinations. He bounced playfully from oversized to undersized, shrinking down distressed cardigans then executing a suit with big pants and too-short sleeves in padded, crocodile-embossed leather or finishing off a miniskirt with a gigantic bow. Jeans were built with interior structures that widened the hips (which, it must be said, feels vaguely weird and hypocritical in a show featuring only size-0 models). Leather jackets looked like they had been wilted in the wash; sober solids bordered bright florals and playful polka dots. Knotty knitwear experiments extended to shoes, while couture-like draping techniques were repurposed to paradoxically both emphasize and work against the body’s proportions.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
The collection is another strong example of Jonny Johansson’s impressive and elusive skill for creating collections that are hard to pin down in their eclecticism and attention to subtly weird detail, yet nonetheless feel cohesive, polished, and considered. It’s not the most memorable runway outing from the house and it doesn’t do too much to evolve its vision forward, but it certainly has a distinct point of view and a unique approach to the craft of building a wardrobe.
