Acne Studios

Acne Studios is a Stockholm-based fashion house founded in 1996, with Jonny Johansson leading its creative direction. It grew out of a multidisciplinary collective whose interests extended across design and film. An early run of raw denim jeans with red stitching, shared among friends, gave the project a route into clothing.

That beginning remains useful to understanding the brand. Jeans supply an everyday foundation, but Johansson approaches familiar garments as material for experimentation. A change in proportion can make a jacket appear awkward or a pair of trousers suddenly theatrical. The clothes often find their character in the space between an ordinary object and an unexpected silhouette.

Menswear encompasses tailoring and knitwear as well as denim, with custom-developed fabrics contributing to the effect. Shoes and accessories participate in the same visual language, from exaggerated shapes to quieter pieces that depend on surface and finish. The collections treat casual dressing as a place for design curiosity.

The house’s wider creative activity includes Acne Paper, books, and exhibitions. Photography and art remain part of its identity, giving the fashion a cultural setting beyond the runway. Across those different forms, Acne Studios retains the spirit of a creative project that became a wardrobe.