| Acne Studios Spring 2027 was presented at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris under Creative director Jonny Johansson. The collection is titled “Denim Hystoria.” It connects the brand’s first five-pocket jeans from 1996 with references to seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European dress. Acne Studios marks its 30th anniversary in 2026. |
For Acne Studios Spring 2027, Jonny Johansson returned to the material that helped establish the Swedish label three decades ago. Denim remained the collection’s foundation, but it appeared alongside ideas drawn from European court clothing, maritime imagery, punk and Britain’s New Romantic subculture.
Presented under the title “Denim Hystoria,” the collection did not attempt a faithful reconstruction of any single period. Instead, Johansson treated historical clothing as a source of shapes, surfaces and construction techniques that could be altered for the present.
That approach was visible in the contrast between ordinary jeans and more elaborate garments. Large draped skirts were worn over denim, while cropped jackets, breeches and low-slung coats introduced proportions associated with older forms of dress. Peplums, gathered tops and long outerwear added further references without turning the clothes into costume.
Denim itself was pushed beyond its familiar role. It appeared in coats, boots and jeans carrying fragments of historical imagery. Green treated versions were wrapped and secured around the body, while leather, brocade and floral surfaces expanded the material range. Portrait-style brooches, buckled footwear and decorative ribbons added detail without removing the practical foundation of many looks.
The historical references also extended beyond European courts. Pirates, musketeers and early 1980s New Romantic style informed the collection’s more exaggerated pieces. That British subculture frequently borrowed from aristocratic clothing, military uniforms and seventeenth- and eighteenth-century dress, combining them with the more disruptive attitudes inherited from punk.
Johansson’s method follows a similar principle. History is used selectively rather than reproduced literally. A formal silhouette may sit beside jeans, or an ornate surface may appear on an otherwise familiar garment. The contrast matters because it keeps the collection connected to Acne Studios rather than turning it into a period exercise.
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Another reference came from the Vasa, the richly decorated Swedish warship that sank in Stockholm harbour during its maiden voyage in 1628. Its combination of ambition, decoration and excess fits the collection’s interest in clothing pushed beyond conventional proportions.
At its clearest, Denim Hystoria is also a reflection on Acne Studios itself. By returning to the five-pocket jean associated with the company’s beginnings in 1996, Johansson connects the label’s current experimentation with its earliest product. Thirty years later, denim remains the constant, even when almost everything around it has changed.
