Mood board: For Acne Studios’ A/W 2017 show, Jonny Johansson bedecked the ceiling of the Pavillon Cambon with an undulating wire mesh sky, which flickered from gold to silver like an electrical storm. The show opened with Laurie Anderson’s experimental recording Bright Red, comprising distorted spoken word lyrics overlaid with instrumentals. Unusual fabrications and an avant-garde soundtrack echoed Johansson’s interest in a choose-your-own aesthetic narrative, with a collection that featured reworked garments with DIY details, like patchwork leather coats, fluid dresses with fringed and rough hand-stitched finishes and silk-plissé floral tailoring.
Best in show: Championing individuality, Johansson reinterpreted tailoring shapes, turning shirts and blazers back to front. Mannish blazers, in leather and tailoring fabrics, were worn backwards, the structured shape also featuring in long fluid dresses, the sleeves finished with rows of buttons.
Finishing touches: Hand stitched finishes and patches, and back to front styling echoed Johansson’s preoccupation with more naive conceptions of craft, and this was also reflected in his accessories. A lesson in pottery class perfection, jewellery included hoop earrings – irregular and oversized – and chunky bangles, moulded in clay, and then crafted in metal and colourful enamel.
