Cigar-Lounge Subversion & Androgynous Energy

Acne Studios' Spring/Summer 2026 collection, under Jonny Johansson, takes place in a space transformed into a moody cigar salon inside the vaulted halls of Collège des Bernardins. This setting is more than aesthetic; it sets the mood for a show concerned with dualities—masculine vs feminine, rough vs tender, restraint vs revelation. The collaboration with artist Pacifico Silano (known for emotive, archival, queer-visual work) in the backdrop and graphic elements reinforces the show's inquiry into identity, gaze, and history.

Johansson says he's been reflecting on all the sheer dressing lately and wanted to push in a direction where masculine archetypes are deconstructed and mixed, remixed, made messy and beautiful. The result feels like a wardrobe that doesn't ask permission — it just is.

The silhouettes alternate between strong and fluid. Oversized blazers in leather or suede, often worn with exaggerated masculine footwear— cowboy boots, work boots with swollen uppers—set up a tough frame. These are paired with pieces that soften the edges: sheer skirts, cut-out knits, corseted/lace components that slide somewhere between lingerie and outerwear.

Some looks are built around contrast: rugged flannel shirts under fluid skirts, leather pieces set beside lace, denim shredded or slashed with lace or sheer paneling. There's a tug between coverage and exposure, structure and vulnerability. The cut-out garments are especially significant— voids that frame images by Pacifico Silano, or frame parts of the body, inviting the viewer's gaze to complicate what's seen vs what's hidden.

The footwear was provocative: heavy boots pushed to extremes, cowboy styles, and exaggerated toes. Accessories— large earrings, aviator glasses, Camero bags (house staple)— offset the weightiness with gleam and swagger.

Color movement in Acne SS26 moves from neutrals and heritage tones (leathers, browns, beiges) toward flashes of striking color: moments of electric contrast, juxtaposed with washed denim and rugged fabrics. Texture plays a key role: sheer fabrics, lace, shredded denim, smooth leathers, suede surfaces, patchworks. The tactile contrast is part of the collection's emotional language.

The soundtrack (Robyn + Yung Lean) and set (wood paneling, brown carpeting) modeled on a traditional "cigar lounge" contribute to a mood that is intimate, slightly decadent, but also loaded with reference — to spaces historically coded male, to spaces of quitting decorum, to spaces of performance. The environment mirrors the clothes: familiar but subverted.

One of the strongest threads in SS26 is how Acne Studios interrogates received ideas of femininity and masculinity. There is no single "look" for the Acne woman this season; there are overlapping personas. The collection does not merely borrow masculine tropes — Johansson reframes them: boots, jackets, cowboy motifs — and layers over them with lace, sheer, silhouette distortion, which complicates the gendered reading of each look.

The cut-outs, voids, sheer panels serve as a way of exposing both material and body, often in a way that doesn't feel gratuitous but integral. The political gesture is subtle rather than loud — it's in the shaping of the silhouette, in what's revealed and concealed, in what norms are questioned.

These looks balance fragility and strength - lace is both skin and barrier. These were anchors that grounded the show's tougher gestures.  Using the voids in garments to display art (Pacifico Silano) is one of the clearest expressions of the collection's visual ideology.

Denim, leather, lace, flannel, sheer — the interplay is lively without overwhelming.

While much of Acne SS26 excels in idea and execution, there are moments where the weight of contrast almost tips into visual fatigue. When many looks rely on sheer lace, boots, and oversized jackets all at once, the signature moments stand, but the quieter ones risk being visually overshadowed.

Some of the more experimental garments (deep cut-outs, distressed denim) may appeal more in editorial or fashion week imagery than in daily wear — wearability is strong in parts, but uneven in others. The challenge for Acne Studios will be maintaining this boundary between daring and accessibility to ensure the clothes find life off the runway.

Acne Studios SS26 is a powerful statement — not a reset so much as a sharpening. Johansson leverages the brand's long tradition of subversion to bring forward a collection that feels urgent, layered, intimate, and defiant. It's a collection made for the multiplicity of identity: for those who want roughness, softness, exposure, coverage — often all in one look.

What Acne does this season is not simply show clothes — it stages questions: Who defines gender in dressing? What is the relationship between garment as protection and garment as exposure? How do heritage and innovation converse? Acne Studios doesn't always answer everything, but it insists we ask.