Jonny Johansson indulged his personal passions as he went about gestating this Acne collection. It started with his growing yen for surfing, an intoxication stirred on the wind-raised waves near his summer house, which formerly belonged to Ingmar Bergman. Through surfing, he came across Robin Kegel, a Californian-born, Biarritz-based surfer who cuts his own hair and shapes his own boards. Kegel's longboard decals provided the prints that flickered in and out of this show, while the rest of it—especially the platforms—arrived via Johansson's guitar playing and his fondness for the New York Dolls. The only thing preventing the connection between Kegel and the Dolls feeling utterly arbitrary was Johansson's keenness on both. Kegel's hairstyle, all blunt-scissored terraces of copper, worked well on the models' wigs. The colors—pistachio, pink, and yellow—were an adroit mix of surf and pre-punk. With its Johnny Thunders platforms, ribbed cashmere dresses, and romper suits, the collection tapped into menswear's current fixation with gender fluidity—especially when teamed with the brand's as-yet-unchristened man bag.
