Acne: the making of a thoroughly modern brand

Is fashion becoming one huge party or has it always been like this and I’ve only just started noticing? I arrived at the Old Sorting Office last night for the Acne show and wearily looked at the queue which was going round the block. The cold and clusters of flawlessly hip name-dropping kids briefly made me consider a swift exit back home! The heroic and desperate attempts made by some to get in only seemed to reinforce the fact that the cult brand has resolutely taken centre-stage. I was lucky enough to immediately escape the bedlam outside and found that the situation inside was only a minor upgrade of the spectacle I had just witnessed.
I patiently waited for the models to come out and was rewarded by a continual flow of breathtaking shapes, gorgeous knitwear, hugely oversized coats and jackets, low slung trousers and as usual very cool and exquisite super high shoes. The highly seductive colours ranged from reds, burgundy, salmon, white, orange, yellow, pastel blue, black and grey shades which were occasionally combined radically with fluorescent green. The girls all had a slight robotic look created by the sculpted clothes and the way they walked. Blade Runner and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep flashed across my mind as I watched the show. This was Johansson at his best, defying our preconceptions of the brand and challenging us with this new narrative. It’s clearly not the easiest collection to wear but it was absorbing and unusual. A sort of exploration of what the future could look like.
I’m eagerly anticipating the arrival of the clothes in stores. At the end of the show I already had a feeling of I must have it and I must have it right now!
I felt that this collection was a staggering validation that Acne had joined the ranks of the big players.

Photos courtesy of style.com
Collage by Mat Maitland