Acne Studios Presents Its New Women’s Spring Summer 2022 Collection

The clash of handcrafted historical pieces with a hyper futuristic attitude. A collection about self-identity and instinct, an experimentation that has always been the heart of Acne Studios.

“We live in the age of self-identity, of instinct and experimentation. The look is provocative and hard, yet is grounded in handcrafts that are then subverted,” says Jonny Johansson, Creative Director of Acne Studios.

Finding strength in contrast, there are four main themes: chiffon matched with leather; plaid contrasted with lingerie; crochet and knits that are toughened up; handcrafted corsets that are exploded and unleashed. It’s about a juxtaposition of grandeur with fierce energy, and the possibilities of play.

Chiffon shirts have an etched baroque print, held by ties at the neck and chest, and trailing from the oversized cuff. Aged leather button-fronted mini skirts have buckled belts attached, like the straps of a saddle. A high-necked long sleeve short leather dress is patchworked from purposefully irregular rectangles, with corset lacing that holds an open seam from armhole to hem. Just as strong is a full length printed chiffon dress, its keyhole decolletage held by ties.

Panels of plaid are applied to a mesh base to create a little jacket with jewelled buttons, worn with a soft jersey rib skirt that plays with lingerie detailing, like hook and eye fastenings and suspenders. Sheer jersey socks continue the story, with corset lacing that goes all the way to the knee. A tank top is cut from a plaid shirt, matched with a rib knit shrug and white leather pants patchworked from a blown-up baroque pattern.

A white off-the-shoulder jumpsuit is knitted in a diamond crochet stitch, the elegance of the neckline contrasting with the purposeful irregularity of its seams that are whip-stitched together. Silhouettes are subverted, like a portrait neckline cropped jacket in eyelash stitch worn with a little eyelash stitch skirt, while a hand-crocheted little vest is resplendent with crochet flowers, echoing the hand-crocheted bags.

Traditionally handmade corsets are cut up and reappropriated, released from constriction but keeping their strength of line. A corset top has attached sleeves, worn with a skirt constructed as if from a corset turned upside down and inside out. A sheer wrapped dress sits under a corset that’s upside down, giving freedom of movement, while an open corset is stitched into a dress fringed with beaded florals, its squared hips created from the pattern lines of a bodice.

Jewellery chains, necklaces and charms are as if thrown on, while small leather half-moon bags have wide guitar-like straps. Sunglasses are futuristic, mirroring the ergonomic lines of super high wooden platforms.

The Venezuelan artist Arca has created an original composition for the show, SMOKEBENDING, to capture the sense of performance and occasion. “Arca represents everything this collection is about,” says Johansson, “and it is our honour that she created music especially for this show.”

Q&A with Jonny Johansson

What was your starting point this season?

We live in the age of self-identity, of instinct and experimentation. It feels like the movement towards self-identity has been growing for a long time, but since the pandemic – and the death of office wear – it has become this global force. It has accelerated what I think was always going to happen. I wanted to make an instinctive and provocative collection that captured this attitude of experimentation.

Can you talk about the feeling of the looks?

I was interested in a clash between handcrafted historical pieces with a hyper futuristic attitude. When people use fashion for self-identity, they take something and make it their own. I wanted to take historical references and put them in the world of Acne Studios, while also respecting and celebrating handcrafts and traditions. We worked with couture corset makers to create many of the pieces in this collection, turning pieces upside down, inside out, using the construction of corsets not for restriction, but for freedom.

Why was the sense of performance so important to you?

This is our first physical show since January 2020, so we are all yearning for a sense of occasion. But the feeling of performance is in the clothes too. People perform more and more, every day, in the way that they dress. They perform for their social media, for how they broadcast themselves to the world. I think the biggest change in fashion from the pandemic is not sweatpants and hoodies, but how much we all perform for our own cameras.

What are the main themes?

The collection brings together four themes. There is the softness of chiffon with the hardness of leather, and the contrast between plaid and lingerie. We have toughened up crochet and knitwear, and then played with handcrafted corsets, exploding and unleashing them. We approached every piece with the feeling of experimentation, which has always been at the heart of what we do at Acne Studios from the very beginning.

Can you tell us more about the corsets?

Corsets used to be about restriction, but they are now more about liberation. The corsets in this collection are left free, or are reappropriated, so that they are never about constriction. Instead, they are empowering, because their meaning has been subverted. We worked with couture corset makers so that these handmade corsets were authentic. It’s only when you use something authentic that you can truly subvert it.

Tell us about the shoes and accessories.

We made super high platforms to give this feeling of genuine elevation, as if you are permanently on stage. They are wooden, to connect with the sense of handcrafts, but also with a futuristic shape. The jewellery is like trinkets that are thrown on, like that feeling of taking something and making it your own. The sunglasses give the feeling of hyper futurism throughout.

Why did you ask Arca to create the music for the show?

Arca represents everything that the show is about. I love how she takes the pieces that she wears and takes them so far out there, beyond this world. It’s like she’s creating her own language with clothing, a language she needs to create because it doesn’t exist yet. What she is doing is very serious, and yet she also has this incredible feeling of pleasure. It is a total privilege to have her create the music for the show.