When Jonny Johansson handed out 100 pairs of raw, red-stitched denim jeans to his inner circle in Stockholm back in 1996, he wasn’t just starting a brand—he was cementing an ethos built entirely on creative kinship. Fast forward three decades, and Acne Studios is celebrating its 30th anniversary by holding up a mirror to the very universe it built.
To mark the milestone, the Swedish house tapped legendary artist and counterculture titan Nan Goldin to photograph its anniversary campaign. Renowned for her raw, tender, and unvarnished portraiture, Goldin brings her signature diaristic eye to a cast of collaborators, artists, and muses who have defined the brand’s orbit over the years.
Instead of traditional campaign models, the visual love letter stars a dynamic line-up of creative heavyweights, including actor Juliette Lewis, Wolf Alice frontwoman Ellie Rowsell, artist Jonathan Lyndon Chase, photographer Jordan Hemingway, and model Guinevere Van Seenus.
“I wanted an icon, but I also wanted something very intimate and personal,” explains creative director Jonny Johansson, who admits to being inspired by Goldin’s work for years. “The subjects are people from our universe—individuals we have collaborated with, spoken to, or had some kind of exchange with… I wanted friends, not models.”
At the centre of it all is a return to denim—the fabric that started it all. Coinciding with the campaign, Acne Studios is dropping an anniversary capsule featuring re-editions of its iconic 1996 and 2009 bootcut silhouettes, alongside a classic denim jacket. Rendered in both stark raw denim and distressed, lived-in washes, the collection honors the way denim ages, evolves, and absorbs the memories of the person wearing it.
In Goldin’s hands, the indigo-drenched capsule becomes more than just fashion; it’s a celebration of authenticity, community, and the lasting power of shared art.
