An ’80s vibe has been reverberating on the runways in Europe this season, and the punk soundtrack at Acne Studios this afternoon was plugged into that vibe. Creative director Jonny Johansson has been a fan of Californian punk outfit the Cramps since his teenage years, and backstage after the show he admitted to fanning out when he met the band’s guitarist in New York. “The Cramps never really had hit songs, but they had a lot of attitude,” he said. “It was provocative, aggressive, and I wanted to bring that mood to what we do.” You need only browse the many performance videos on YouTube to get a sense for the band’s style and bravado. Known as Poison Ivy and Lux Interior, the two most striking members of the crew shared a fearless gender-fluid aesthetic, in which a casual look for a woman or man might encompass a pair of PVC panties, sky-high stilettos, and not much else.
Johansson was among the first designers to jump on the pant-less trend, and this season he continued the theme with some novel takes on underwear as outerwear: PVC leotards and undies that were worn over stockings or skintight pants. The brand is never afraid to subvert traditional proportions, and the sinewy punk rocker silhouette was blown up big with XXL pants in heavy mohair and PVC. Those audacious experiments in form seemed to weigh down the collection in places, along with oversize woolen jumpsuits. The tailored holographic pants made for a better line, as did off-the-shoulder jackets. Outerwear is arguably Acne Studios’s strong suit, and their interpretation of the quilted coat was a nice addition to the ones we’ve seen coming through for Fall, even if the somewhat curious styling obscured some of the standouts. One orange coat in particular had a body-skimming fit that trumped the puffer’s shapeless associations.
Acne Studios has a pretty strong track record for making compelling footwear, too, and though the baggy over-the-knee boots were in step with fashion’s current endless-leg obsession, they fell flat on desirability. In fact, it feels as if the Swedish brand has recently lost some ground in the streetwear territory they once laid claim to, ceding it to a new wave of rebellious streetwise designers. That said, they did find their footing with their bags for Fall, and the leather-lined bungee cord shoppers were a cool bit of arm candy that are likely to be a hit in all shapes and sizes.
