Youth flies by in a flash. Ever after, it s remembered by totems and touchstones. Proust had his madeleine. Kane had his sled. Jonny Johansson has his MTV.
"When I was growing up, MTV was very important for fashion," Johansson said at Acne s Paris showroom. "TV is not really something you talk about. But the glorious moment of MTV was what I wanted to capture."
The teenager glued to House of Style was the muse of Acne s pre-fall collection. "It s a schoolgirl who styles herself a little bit," Johansson explained. The look was, accordingly, a little vintage and a little haphazard. There was plenty to concern a mother: ultra-short skirts in jazzy silver foil, see-through blouses in a rose print, and cropped sweaters baring a hint of flesh. Many pieces felt purposefully secondhand, like the cropped, bell-leg trousers; others looked adapted to fit, like school uniform shirts with sewn-on jersey corseting.
Befitting its inspiration, the collection also felt young. But a maturer designing hand was evident in clever touches like the zipped pocket that held coat belts in place.
