From a cavernous gallery near the Bastille, Jonny Johansson explained how, as Acne Studios matures as a brand, the clothes need not necessarily chart the same course. Which is to say, he doesn't want to lose the naïveté. He then pointed to works by cubist Albert Gleizes and postmodern artist Mario Schifano—both found in the aspirational Rizzoli tome on Marella Agnelli—as fundamental to the Resort collection's expressive attitude.
By the time the first model emerged from a mixed-media installation (a cross between kindergarten and Arte Povera), her bonded linen and poplin trench, accented with a stiff, stand-away storm flap and pockets, seemed far more sophisticated than Johansson's lead-up. And because he holds such high regard for fabric and fabrication, the collection largely stayed that way, whether it was the effortlessly tailored robe coat in contrasting wallpaper stripes or the knotted paperweight suede skirt. Even the collaged viscose shapes patched onto an organza base required precise craftsmanship; of the orange strip running across both trouser legs, Johansson noted dryly, "It was easier to sketch than produce."
But if the rusty red leather coat was unapologetically grown-up, the collection elevated certain nostalgic '90s throwbacks—those stretchy tattoo chokers now in metal, tear-away shorts in leather—to play up the fun. Add in the eccentric touches—the frayed fabric monk shoes, the fabric-blocked smock tops, and the spray-paint-effect stenciling atop floral printed silk—and you ended up with a collection well matched for art-fair-hopping. Someone might even comment that the hot pink lining peeking out from a slashed striped dress calls to mind Arte Povera's Lucio Fontana.
