Paris Fashion Week: Acne Studios Fall/Winter 2026 Menswear
Paris — As Acne Studios marks its 30th anniversary, creative director Jonny Johansson turned his attention to an unavoidable subject: age. “It felt like something I needed to deal with, even though I tried to skip it,” he admitted. “You’re young, young, young—and then, all of a sudden…” The pause said enough. Still, the collection resisted nostalgia’s usual sentimentality. Instead, it reaffirmed Acne’s enduring youthfulness—curious, self-aware, subversive, and instinctively opposed to convention.
That sensibility was evident even before the runway. The season’s lookbook gently skewered the soulless polish of luxury’s increasingly interchangeable uniforms. Johansson cited a recent rewatch of The Crown—specifically the portrayal of Princess Diana—as unexpected inspiration. “It’s a show I find hilarious,” he said, explaining the knowing side-eye baked into the collection.
While the broader menswear conversation continues its swing toward classicism, Johansson approached tradition with irony and intent. A discovery of vintage menswear catalogues—those instructional relics explaining how to tie a tie or decode elbow patches—sparked the idea. “It was about individualism,” he noted, “but now, with the speed of aesthetic consumption, it’s all about full looks.” The response was a meticulous excavation of surfaces, layering meaning, memory, and reference.
Self-referential details grounded the collection in Acne’s own history. The iconic 1996 jeans that helped launch the brand returned in updated form, while a beautifully cut Italian loden coat—originally reworked by Johansson in 2003—was revisited with a dramatic mega-vent and a sharper, body-conscious silhouette. Denim came printed with archival stylings, sometimes taped over and reworked again, creating a triple-layered dialogue between past and present.
“Dad” details were everywhere, but always with a wink. Square suede elbow patches landed on Acne’s signature MA-1-style bombers, nodding to ’90s French prep. Cravats were styled with a twisted, Pitti-meets-punk irreverence. Leather western shirts and aviator jackets leaned fully into hardcore dadcore, their authenticity marked by dark, weathered seams. Blazers were cut sharply, while trousers swung between long and kicky or high and tightly clutched—silhouettes that felt like affectionate caricatures.
The result was a collection that teased its own maturity without ever surrendering to it. Johansson himself acknowledged the metaphor with a weary smile: a teenage son gently lampooning his midlife father. At 30, Acne Studios isn’t growing old—it’s growing sharper, more self-aware, and even more confident in laughing at itself.
Photos Credit: Courtesy of Acne Studios
