Patrick Michael Hughes Senior Fashion Editor Men's Fashion Writer
Photographs by Jordan Hemingway
Stylist -Leopolda Duchemin, Hairstylist- Tom Wright Hair, Make -up- Regina Tornwall
Acne Studios is a Swedish brand that shows at Paris Fashion Week. For Fall/Winter 2025, Creative Director Jonny Johansson looked to his adult sons for inspiration, channeling the eclectic and ever-changing nature of modern masculinity. The collection explores a man of many faces and the role-playing aspect of men’s fashion today, where identity shifts with mood and time. One moment, he’s a nineteen nineties rock icon. The next, a sharply dressed rake in vintage tailoring. Blink, and he’s a hustler straight out of an eighties indie- thriller.
Johansson tapped into ‘Looksmaxxing’, is a trend born on Incel forums in the early 2000's and later co-opted by TikTok in the 2020s, focused on the pursuit of physical perfection. This concept provided a lens to explore male archetypes, from gym bros to finance guys. Johansson’s interpretation was both irreverent and clever, playing with these tropes as well as observing them from a distance.
The collection took cues from nineteen eighties power dressing, reworking it for today’s audience and aspirational styling. Checked suits and relaxed pinstripes stood alongside puffed trench coats and micro-quilted denim shorts. Trompe-l’oeil leather pants with photo-printed denim, paired with cowboy boots and a Western belt buckle, added a playful touch. Accessories offered subtle twists on menswear staples. Brogues became heavy boots. Moccasins featured logo plaques. Vintage-inspired flight caps and Western belts nodded to Americana, while the Camero bag in embossed leather bridged utility and a sense of readiness for an unforeseen need to move on with at least two other looks.
“We’re not ironic in anyway, but we’re cheeky with what fashion is. When it’s too serious, it’s a little more pretentious,” Johansson said.
The collection balanced rugged and refined with ease. From must have oversized coats to knitwear blending past and present, cropped tees, and denim with experimental finishes, the collection walked the line between traditional masculinity and modern fluidity. A stand out item was a heavy textured woven coat resembling raw fleece, perhaps a shape-shift to the menfolk at an Australian sheep shearing stations. Long haired fabrication is a statement for the forthcoming fall/winter season.
The Acne Studios collection for fall/winter 2025-2026, reflects a cultural moment where identity is in flux. Johansson suggests that today’s man isn’t one thing but many—a shapeshifter for a new era. Sometimes, it’s just an illusion, but it’s a compelling one.
