The Acne A/W 2012 collection was shown in the top level of a disused sorting office; an expansive, industrial-looking space, which was fitted out with marble print walls, dramatic lighting and a DJ booth that blasted New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ on repeat. After a six-flight ascent up a concrete stairwell, the star-studded guests (Florence Welch, Nicholas Hoult and Irena Lazarenanu were amongst those spotted in the FROW) were greeted by knee-hi sock sporting waiters — and served a seemingly limitless supply of campari cocktails.
Taking cues from the latest issue of Acne Paper, creative director Jonny Johannson explored ideas about The Body in Art. Photographer Andre Kertesz and sculptor Hans Bellmer inspired the contoured panelling and sometimes-strange silhouettes. Care of stiff cottons, shoe leathers and technical fabrics like vinyl and padded nylon, there were oversized shoulders and boxy, Balenciaga-esque cuts. A number of looks featured low-slung pants, but the emphasis this season was on the waist — fitting, seeing that by the time the show started much of the audience was close to wasted (those cocktails weren’t for the faint of heart). Most looks were cinched midway by belts so wide they could be girdles.
Other accessories of note: the hats. There were variations on the baseball cap (a look seen at a number of shows this season) and a re-visiting of Crocodile Dundee’s favourite — the akubra, which was rendered in distressed pony skin. It also came in a floral-infused camo print — a mix of fleshy pinks, dusty beiges and a pistachio green, which was part of a wider palette that mixed pastels with lurid shots of orange, mustard and ox-blood red. Then there were the shoes, and with Acne’s Atacoma Wedges and Pistol Boots at the top of every blogger’s wish list, the brand is becoming as renown for them as it is its denim. Johansson provided much for Internet fodder this season; some of the shape-shifting looks will challenge the Acne customer, but the chunky cut-out brogues will go viral.