Waiters were serving naughty canapés as people filed into the Acne Studios show this afternoon. The treats went along with the collection's suggestive prints, which collaged naked nether parts with pieces of fruit and vegetables, flowers, and tubes of lipstick. Made in collaboration with the artist Raquel Dias, they looked like they could've been creative director Jonny Johansson's tweaked take on classic Hermès scarf prints, an impression that was accentuated by the retro aviators and chunky I.D. chain necklaces the models sported.
Backstage Johansson said he's been captivated lately by young people's affection for and appropriation of luxury goods, the implication in the statement being that the phenomenon isn't an experience he remembers from his own Swedish youth. But was he endorsing the current situation or poking fun at it? It wasn't always clear. In the case of a strapless minidress made from a teal green terry cloth towel—spa day!—it seemed like Johansson was taking the piss. As for the louche, slightly 1970s tailoring, more often than not it just felt like the models could've used a shirt. But if "haute bourgeois fresh from an afternoon assignation" isn't the most natural fit for Johansson and his Acne label (he's always been a big proponent of fashion androgyny, after all), there were pieces here that felt on-brand. The leather outerwear was typically strong, and we liked the look of two fluid dresses in acid shades of yellow and fuchsia. And you just know that the Instagram generation is going to go crazy for the naughty prints.
