Acne Studios is part of the creative collective Acne (Ambition to Create Novel Expression) which was founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1996. In 1997, co-founder Jonny Johansson[1][2] [3] created one hundred pairs of jeans in raw denim with red stitching and gave them away to friends and family in Stockholm. This became the foundation of the clothing branch of Acne, now known as Acne Studios. Acne Studios designs, markets and distributes fashion apparel and jeans worldwide. [4][5] [6][7]
Contents |
Acne Studios does not advertise or market itself through traditional and/or visual fashion campaigns or communication channels. Instead, the label markets itself through its publishing arm, bi-annual magazine Acne Paper.[8][9] Acne Paper covers the disciplines of art, fashion, photography, design, architecture, academia and culture. Each issue is based around a theme that is interpreted by selected contributors from their field of expertise. Contributors to Acne Paper have included Carine Roitfeld, Noam Chomsky, David Lynch, Lord Snowdon, Azzedine Alaïa, Mario Testino, Sarah Moon, Tilda Swinton and Paolo Roversi.
Acne’s stores are known as studios as they aim to recreate the atmosphere of a working creative space. There are 21 monobrand Acne Studios stores in eight countries, e.g. Stockholm, Paris, London,[10] New York, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Oslo. Acne Studio’s Stockholm flagship store on Norrmalmstorg is the location where the paradoxical psychological phenomenon Stockholm Syndrome was coined in 1973 as hostage in a bank robbery turned emphatic to the robbers.
Acne Studios have collaborated widely with representatives from the creative industries. In 2008, they collaborated with the world’s oldest bike manufacturer, Bianchi Bicycles,[11], to produce a bespoke fixed gear racer bike in custom colours. Also in 2008, Acne collaborated on a denim-based capsule collection with the couture house Lanvin (clothing) as well as a pair of ‘gentleman’s jeans’ with magazine Fantastic Man (magazine). To accompany the fashion collections, Acne has collaborated with jewelers Mikael Zobel and Husam El-Odeh[12]. In 2010, Acne commissioned artist Katerina Jebb to create a video incorporating a Swarovski solitaire crystal. In September 2010, Acne launched a furniture line of sofas based on Swedish furniture designer’s Carl Malmsten’s sofa Nya Berlin[13][14]. In 2011, Acne collaborated with transsexual magazine Candy on a cross-gender collection of six blouses.