Here's a good illustration of the present-day timeline of a trend: A year and a half ago, Acne Studios caused a minor frenzy among editors for the covetable, accessible take on major volume in its August Strindberg-themed Pre-Fall 2013 collection. The clothes that Acne showed this morning, meanwhile, served as the death knell for that exaggerated look, which Acne championed perhaps more than any other brand for the past few seasons. No magnified silhouettes, no proportions elongated to a Mannerist degree. As Acne's Jonny Johansson acknowledged after the brief défilé, this collection was all about realism. Inspired by Jeff Wall photos, Johansson's take on realism was dun-colored, for the most part, and aggressively lived-in—faded camo; pre-dirtied white leather; a long, pilled gray knit vest. Even the nattier items were blandly unpretentious, though the hip, cropped fit on a fantastic pair of mannish trousers, and details like the angled hems of a washed-out denim jacket betrayed the design intelligence attending these "generic" clothes. Generic was Johansson's word, and as he allowed, finding ways to make familiar all-purpose looks seem new and non-invisible is more of a challenge than, say, conjuring a hypertrophied sleeve. But the additional effort paid off—one feels that Acne really should be about looks like the dark denim skirt with kick pleats and matching snug jacket with toggles. Normcore? A little. But way nicer than plain old normal.
