ACNE New York

by Tim Yu

If you didn't know that ACNE stands for "Ambition to Create Novel Expressions," than you also proabably weren't aware that the Swedish label is a multi-disciplinary company consisting of much more than impeccably cut jeans in amazing fabrics. With films, furniture design, architecture and their own world-class publication, it's lifestyle branding that we can actually get behind.

Opened yesterday in New York City, their first U.S. store is one of the more attractive and comfortable retail spaces I've entered. Dozens of bright potted tulips and succelents greet new arrivals and 139 hand-blown glass bulbs line the right wall. Clothing, shoes and accessories are strategically placed about on stacked books, ACNE-designed clothing racks, cabinets that double as doors, trebled tables and glass display cases. Unlike other retail spaces that give off the unshakable sense of countless hours of focus groups, it's not overdone but rather has the feel of more of an unfinished space. In fact, as we discovered, part of the goal was to recreate an artist's studio.

We caught a few minutes with ACNE's creative director Jonny Johansson and the in-house Head of Architecture Andreas Fornell to talk about the new space and the ACNE lifestyle.

As the in-house Architect of the brand, what sorts of projects do you take on?
AF: There are two of us. We design shops and studios such as this, but we also design all our showrooms, offices and booths for fashion fairs. A lot of thought goes into every aspect of the spaces we inhabit, including the lamps, lighting, color and way we present items and products.

What was the concept for this space?
AF: The idea was to create an artist studio of sorts. Most of our other stores are monochrome in color. For example, in Paris we opened a version consisting of mostly solid, unpainted wood, but here we wanted to do something a bit different. I wanted to make the space pop a bit more, so we used some more bright pastels and lights. I also like the glass knobs we use in this store. I worked with Ingere Rädman, a 63-year-old who hand blows each one. In other stores we use one or even ten, but never 139 like we've done here. Everything in the store including the lights, tables, cabinets and racks were designed by us, made in Sweden and then shipped here.

So did ACNE start out as a clothing brand and grow in these other directions?
JJ: We actually started as consultants for film and advertising. However, since the beginning we set out to start a unique but fantastic company. The idea was to explore things that were fashionable and fashion does not pertain to just clothing. Fashion can be a piece of furniture or what's surrounding and inspiring you, in my opinion. So we built this brand to work on things that interests us—any facet of what we think is fashionable. We also wanted to approach design more holistically, hitting all fronts rather than concentrating on being known for one thing. Since then we've been able to get involved with photography, film, architecture and design as a lifestyle in general. So, to answer your question, in the beginning it was through consulting we were able to start out own projects.

I recently started reading ACNE paper. It's such a great publication and I am always so impressed with the content. How did that start out?
JJ: It's the research process and lust for the creative process that is most interesting to us, but when you do that you experience a lot of things that aren't shown in the product necessarily. We wanted to somehow showcase what was inspiring us and what we were talking about in the office, so we created ACNE Paper to show people the back story of our inspiration.

So why New York now?
JJ: It's very simple. We met Humberto from Opening Ceremony, felt a mutual connection and it seemed like a good time. Opening Ceremony and us, we have a common view on fashion; not that it's unconventional, just the way we look upon it. Humberto has been a pleasure to work with, as always. They are staffing and running the store but I don't talk of that stuff, I'm not involved with the business part.

What next?
JJ: We have shops in Berlin, Paris, Stockholm (of course), Copenhagen, Oslo and now New York. We also look forward to opening a shop in London. More importantly, I feel that we have a good foundation for showing and doing more things. More exploration. That's the challenge I have; to make this experience more than a clothing store. This is very important to us because if we don't do this then we are not the brand we promised. We've been around 10 years now, but it's just the beginning. There are a lot of new challenges and opportunities that will be fun to explore.

ACNE
10 Greene Street
New York, NY 10013 map
tel. +1 212.625 2828

Images via Refinery29

Patagonia: T-Shirt Exhibition and Footprint Chronicles

by Doug Black

Patagonia's recent t-shirt campaign links a young group of designers with the environmentally-conscious clothing company to produce a line of exclusive shirts. Now they're moving closer towards the gallery scene with a group exhibition set to open tomorrow, 29 March 2008, at Patagonia's Santa Monica store.

It will include the work of a couple designers previously featured on CH (Jason Munn and Geoff McFetridge), as well as Nikki McClure (whose design is shown at right), Jason Stowell, Chris Del Moro, Jeremy Collins, Peter McBride and Kitty Botke. A few of the artists will be on hand for a meet-and-greet session and you'll be able to buy some of their work, t-shirts and otherwise. (Click image for detail.)

Also worthy of note is Patagonia's "Footprint Chronicles" project. In an unconventional move, the clothing company chose to expose the environmental and social impact from the production of their garments.

They show interviews with factory workers, farmers, owners, designers and third-party auditors and make both positive and negative revelations, many of which go against conventional wisdom. (For example, product transportation contributes a grand total of one percent of energy use.)

Fortunately, Patagonia has one of the most universally-sound manufacturing practices, but they hope the idea will spread to other companies. Us too.

Patagonia T-Shirt Exhibit
Opening reception: 29 March 2008, 8-10pm
Patagonia
2936 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405 map
tel. +1 310 314 1776

Four Creatives, One Studio: Kate Hurst, Elle Kramer, Fiona McGee and Matt Weston

by Fiona Killackey

Studios can often act as hubs for creativity, but what happens when you share a small space with four equally creative and artistic people? CH spent a day at the shared Sydney studio space of fashion designer Kate Hurst, jewelery designer Elke Kramer, filmmaker Fiona McGee and Matt Weston, also a jewelry designer, spying on the daily activities of some of Australia's most successful creatives to find out what makes for good and bad environment.

How long have you all been in the studio?
Elke and Kate have been here since day one for about three years now. Matt came next, soon after and when we lost our dear friend Ainslie, to the real world of full time employment, we were blessed with the arrival of Fiona. Kylie, Kate's assistant, is also part of the team.

Ever any arguments over music choices?
Not any! Matt usually controls the party shuffle, as downloading music of limewire is his preferred method of work avoidance.

Do you work and play together or keep lives separate?
Definitely work and play. We all live about two minutes from each other also, so it's easy to catch up away from the studio.

Do you ever get worried you'll create something similar in your labels?
Not at all, that's why we are so lucky. We all have very different strengths and selling points. There is a healthy level of respect and we can pool our different knowledge and experiences together to help strengthen each other.

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On Location: TenderNob, San Francisco

by Ami Kealoha

by Sydney Pfaff

Today, Refinery29 reports on a new neighborhood on the rise in San Pancho (that's SF for those of you not in the know). No longer the middle ground between the gritty, crime-ridden Tenderloin and the slick society of Nob Hill, San Francisco's Lower Nob Hill—sweetly nicknamed the TenderNob—is home to a recent surplus of worthy fashion outposts, restaurants, and specialty shops. Having always been a busy quadrant due to the close proximity to bustling Union Square, the area is now starting to declare its own quirky identity. A few of our favorite of their finds...

Look Boutique and Silverman Gallery
Combining art and fashion under one roof yields the newly opened duo of Silverman Gallery and Look Boutique. Previously located in the Dogpatch, the gallery is now housed with the boutique, originally an online-only store. The shop offers clothing, accessories and books that complement each month's exhibition, all handpicked by owner Jessica Silverman and creative director Carolina Amaris. The apparel lines include exclusive-to-SF collections, such as House of Holland, Jessie Hill, and French label Heimstone, as well as jewelry from Giles and Brother, We Are Powerhaus, and Kimann Foxman. 804 Sutter Street; 415-255-9508

Babylon Falling
1017 Bush Street; 415-345-1017 Owner Sean Stewart opened Babylon Falling with a nod to the spirit of Revolution and conscious consumption. Inspired by his Jamaican heritage, the shop stocks over 3,000 well-chosen titles—everything from photography books of California's coastline to portrait compilations by artist David Choong Lee to monographs on the history of the I.R.A.—along with art documentaries, collectible toys, and vintage posters. Stewart hosts monthly events to premier in-house art exhibitions that enhance the essence of the community bookstore. 1017 Bush Street; 415-345-1017

The Hundreds
With a cult-like following like the Hundreds has, there's no doubt that sneaker heads will flock to stock up on limited edition T-shirts (a small load were made in collaboration with Hieroglyphics), selvedge denim from TH's Public Label and heaps of hats emblazoned with the animated bomb logo. The cave-like shop, accented with rock walls covered in faux human skulls, opened just days ago and is their second outpost—the first is located in L.A.'s Fairfax district. 585 Post Street; 415-440-7700

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Cut Copy

by Lost At E Minor

Melbourne's Cut Copy is the hottest electro act out of Australia right now. We spoke to Mitchell Brown from the group to get the lowdown.

Does Melbourne still have a dynamic creative scene?
I think it really does—there's no shortage of people in Melbourne doing amazingly cool things creatively, whether it's music, art, fashion, or design. There's a lot going on. Also, for music, there are a million venues, so bands have places to play.

How was the album artwork conceptualised?
When we came to thinking about the album cover art, we wanted something photographic, rather than creating graphics. However, we also wanted something that was a bit colorful, a bit strange and that would be striking and interesting to look at. So we came up with the idea of photographing ourselves and then projecting the photos onto ourselves with colors and lights also projected. We ended up really pleased with the end result. And we've got some pretty cool plans for how the CD cover gets manufactured, which should be cool if it turns out how we hope.