Does history exist only in the past? Court dress codes, Renaissance paintings, morning coats, and the New Romantic movement of the 1980s all belong unmistakably to particular moments in time. Yet clothes, once worn again, can live through another era.
Courtesy of Acne Studios
For Spring/Summer 2027, Acne Studios presents “Denim Hystoria” in Paris. Co-founder and Creative Director Jonny Johansson explores the energy generated when two seemingly incompatible elements are brought together. At the center is one of the most familiar garments in our wardrobes: denim. Johansson describes it as “a canvas through time.”
Fragments of torn Renaissance paintings appear across denim, while flowers are given glossy treatments that evoke the faded surfaces of antique painted porcelain. Elsewhere, sweeping drapes and volumes reminiscent of court dress meet leather jackets, biker trousers, and jeans.
Courtesy of Acne Studios
A grand skirt in faded brocade is paired with a polo knit. A peacoat is cut up and cropped, while the hem of a morning coat appears scorched. Here, “historical dress” and “contemporary clothing” are no longer neatly separated.
Courtesy of Acne Studios
A classic shirt with an oversized collar is worn with a cropped jacket and slender trousers; elsewhere, vivid, voluminous drapery emerges beneath a weathered-looking leather jacket. Memories of historical dress begin to infiltrate the everyday wardrobe. This is something more than simply updating clothes from the past for the present.
Courtesy of Acne Studios
The past and present are made to coexist on the same body. In “Denim Hystoria,” different moments in time begin to overlap.
With so many historical references at play, clothing could easily slip into costume. Johansson, however, insists on the opposite.
“Acne Studios should always be playful, but never fictional.”
And, as he puts it, “For me, it has to be real.”
Courtesy of Acne Studios
That idea emerges through combinations of seemingly opposing elements: leather and drapery, florals and tailoring, formalwear and workwear. A voluminous skirt meets a worn-looking leather jacket. Delicate florals are offset by tougher accessories. Colors and embellishments may be exuberant, yet the silhouettes retain a certain roughness and ease.
Courtesy of Acne Studios
Rather than reproducing history, Johansson brings its memory into clothes made to be worn today. Everyday materials such as denim and leather become the connective tissue between different eras.
Another clue comes from the show’s music. The soundtrack features an excerpt from Adam and the Ants’ Prince Charming, whose flamboyant New Romantic attitude is among the collection’s inspirations.
Courtesy of Acne Studios
The New Romantic movement freedom in borrowing historical dress and ornament, then transforming those references into a style belonging entirely to its own time.
Courtesy of Acne Studios
Acne Studios similarly has little interest in faithfully reproducing history. Formal details are dismantled and repositioned. Historical silhouettes take on different meanings when they encounter leather and denim. The idea of “classic archetypes breaking out of their existing framework and finding their way into a strange new world” captures the spirit of the collection.
That thinking extends beyond the clothes. At the far end of the show space stands a work by Azerbaijani contemporary artist Faig Ahmed.
Courtesy of Acne Studios
The pattern of a traditional carpet appears to break apart midway, as though melting and spilling onto the floor. Rather than treating traditional Azerbaijani carpets as fixed cultural artifacts, Ahmed approaches them as a kind of “information system.” By disrupting, extending, and recoding their visual language, he opens tradition to dialogue with contemporary visual culture.
There is a clear resonance with what Johansson is doing through clothing.
Courtesy of Acne Studios
One works with carpets, the other with clothes. Instead of simply preserving inherited forms, both take them apart and reconstruct them within the present.
Not everything in “Denim Hystoria” is entirely new. Denim, leather jackets, shirts, florals, tailoring, and the silhouettes of historical dress are all things we have encountered before. Yet when elements from different eras are brought together on the same body, the relationships between these familiar forms begin to change.
Courtesy of Acne Studios
For fashion, perhaps the past is not something that exists only to be preserved. It can be cut, disrupted, layered, collided with something else—and worn again. By turning denim into “a canvas through time,” Acne Studios Spring/Summer 2027 does not simply look back at history. It brings history into the present.
Courtesy of Acne Studios
To wear the past and present at once: perhaps that is a relationship with time that only clothing can make possible.
Contact:
Acne Studios Aoyama
Tel: +81 (0)3-6418-9923
Courtesy of Acne StudiosFor Spring/Summer 2027, Acne Studios presents “Denim Hystoria” in Paris. Co-founder and Creative Director Jonny Johansson explores the energy generated when two seemingly incompatible elements are brought together. At the center is one of the most familiar garments in our wardrobes: denim. Johansson describes it as “a canvas through time.”
Denim Becomes a Canvas Through Time
Fragments of torn Renaissance paintings appear across denim, while flowers are given glossy treatments that evoke the faded surfaces of antique painted porcelain. Elsewhere, sweeping drapes and volumes reminiscent of court dress meet leather jackets, biker trousers, and jeans.
Courtesy of Acne StudiosA grand skirt in faded brocade is paired with a polo knit. A peacoat is cut up and cropped, while the hem of a morning coat appears scorched. Here, “historical dress” and “contemporary clothing” are no longer neatly separated.
Courtesy of Acne StudiosA classic shirt with an oversized collar is worn with a cropped jacket and slender trousers; elsewhere, vivid, voluminous drapery emerges beneath a weathered-looking leather jacket. Memories of historical dress begin to infiltrate the everyday wardrobe. This is something more than simply updating clothes from the past for the present.
Courtesy of Acne StudiosThe past and present are made to coexist on the same body. In “Denim Hystoria,” different moments in time begin to overlap.
Theatrical, Yet “Real”
With so many historical references at play, clothing could easily slip into costume. Johansson, however, insists on the opposite.
“Acne Studios should always be playful, but never fictional.”
And, as he puts it, “For me, it has to be real.”
Courtesy of Acne StudiosThat idea emerges through combinations of seemingly opposing elements: leather and drapery, florals and tailoring, formalwear and workwear. A voluminous skirt meets a worn-looking leather jacket. Delicate florals are offset by tougher accessories. Colors and embellishments may be exuberant, yet the silhouettes retain a certain roughness and ease.
Courtesy of Acne StudiosRather than reproducing history, Johansson brings its memory into clothes made to be worn today. Everyday materials such as denim and leather become the connective tissue between different eras.
How Do You Wear New Romantic in 2027?
Another clue comes from the show’s music. The soundtrack features an excerpt from Adam and the Ants’ Prince Charming, whose flamboyant New Romantic attitude is among the collection’s inspirations.
Courtesy of Acne StudiosThe New Romantic movement freedom in borrowing historical dress and ornament, then transforming those references into a style belonging entirely to its own time.
Courtesy of Acne StudiosAcne Studios similarly has little interest in faithfully reproducing history. Formal details are dismantled and repositioned. Historical silhouettes take on different meanings when they encounter leather and denim. The idea of “classic archetypes breaking out of their existing framework and finding their way into a strange new world” captures the spirit of the collection.
The Carpet Rewrites History, Too
That thinking extends beyond the clothes. At the far end of the show space stands a work by Azerbaijani contemporary artist Faig Ahmed.
Courtesy of Acne StudiosThe pattern of a traditional carpet appears to break apart midway, as though melting and spilling onto the floor. Rather than treating traditional Azerbaijani carpets as fixed cultural artifacts, Ahmed approaches them as a kind of “information system.” By disrupting, extending, and recoding their visual language, he opens tradition to dialogue with contemporary visual culture.
There is a clear resonance with what Johansson is doing through clothing.
Courtesy of Acne StudiosOne works with carpets, the other with clothes. Instead of simply preserving inherited forms, both take them apart and reconstruct them within the present.
The Past Becomes Present When We Wear It
Not everything in “Denim Hystoria” is entirely new. Denim, leather jackets, shirts, florals, tailoring, and the silhouettes of historical dress are all things we have encountered before. Yet when elements from different eras are brought together on the same body, the relationships between these familiar forms begin to change.
Courtesy of Acne StudiosFor fashion, perhaps the past is not something that exists only to be preserved. It can be cut, disrupted, layered, collided with something else—and worn again. By turning denim into “a canvas through time,” Acne Studios Spring/Summer 2027 does not simply look back at history. It brings history into the present.
Courtesy of Acne StudiosTo wear the past and present at once: perhaps that is a relationship with time that only clothing can make possible.
Contact:
Acne Studios Aoyama
Tel: +81 (0)3-6418-9923
