30 years in, Acne Studios’ autumn/winter '26 menswear collection shows how denim and tailoring can stay forever young
“Heading into 2026, I began thinking about these last 30 years,” Jonny Johansson says, considering the arc from cult denim label to something more permanent. “You start off as the young brand; then suddenly, you have a legacy.” For Acne Studios, that legacy has been built through denim and leather – worn hard enough that their surfaces begin to speak back. “When enough of these pieces exist,” Johansson reflects, “and penetrate sub-cultures and high society alike, they eventually gain their own kind of heritage.”
That idea – time as proof – underpins Acne Studios’ autumn/winter '26 menswear collection. Johansson proposes a new narrative shaped by knowledge, technique, and a sincere reassembly of menswear codes. “I wanted this season to explore the passage of time as both a testament to our credibility and a reflection of how classic codes evolve,” Johansson adds. At the collection's core is denim: the straight-leg 1996 silhouette reappears as a cornerstone, gently updated but faithful to its original proportions, accompanied by washes that suggest wear, repair, and real life. Trompe l’œil treatments blur illusion and reality: photocopied jeans, collaged surfaces, flashes of visible tape or mending that interrupt the image and remind you of the hand behind it. Leather enters naturally (as a trim, a pocket, a jacket, sometimes head-to-toe) bringing with it the same lived-in authority.
There is, running alongside this denim backbone a kind of idolisation of menswear itself. Silk foulards are knotted at the neck; roll-neck knits slip under tailored jackets; boxy shirts are worn open or with contrasting collars. Tailoring is elegant and precise rather than severe: double-breasted blazers are softly waisted, wool coats slender, trousers cropped or gently flared in a subtle nod to the 1970s.
Throughout, the collection plays a careful push-and-pull between reverence and reinterpretation. Crinkled poplin and worn-in jersey refresh familiar wardrobe staples. Cashmere knits are layered with intent; argyle appears disrupted, imperfect, human. A padded velvet jacket rubs up against pinstripe tailoring. Outerwear archetypes – suede flight jackets, Harringtons, Teddy jackets, a Loden-inspired coat sliced with an unexpected high slit – introduce shifting personas, as if the wearer is trying on versions of himself across decades.
After three decades, Acne Studios's AW26 is a moment of clarity: what to keep, what to refine, and what keeps a brand eternally young.
See the full collection below:
