The HB20 capsule is officially live — visit the landing page to see the individual shirts in detail, as well as purchase your own while supplies last.

For our 20th anniversary, we’re honoring this legacy with a special curated exhibition. We’ve created a limited series of collaborative tees with longtime friends, creative partners, and some of streetwear’s most influential designers and leaders. Together, we want to reignite the energy of iconic graphics, logos, and messages from the past two decades — reimagined for today, and for what comes next.

In the following, we not only preview artwork from the upcoming anniversary exhibition, but also highlight the diverse perspectives of our collaborators whose insights help reveal the power of the T-shirt and give a glimpse into the past, present, and future of streetwear and creativity.

Launched in 1994 by Errolson Hugh and Michaela Sachenbacher, ACRONYM is the pinnacle of technical fashion, renowned for pushing the boundaries of functional design. The Berlin-based label fuses military precision, cyberpunk aesthetics, and cutting-edge fabric technology into apparel built for real-world utility. Each piece, whether a jacket, modular pants, or an accessory, reflects a philosophy of adaptability, with features like concealed pockets, advanced weatherproofing, and patented systems for carrying gear.

ACRONYM has remained fiercely independent, cultivating a cult-like following among designers, technologists, and urban explorers who value uncompromising quality and innovation. The label has influenced countless brands and shaped the “techwear” category while collaborating sparingly with names like Nike ACG to expand its impact. To own ACRONYM is to embrace not just clothing, but a philosophy where utility, futurism, and style converge in perfect equilibrium.

How long have you been designing, and how long have you been running your brand?

Errolson Hugh: The official start of the company was 1999. That’s when we founded and registered the company. I remember doing that and we were like, should we wait until 2000? We’ll sound ancient if we do it in 1999. The brand itself has been operating since 2002. So, wow, 23 years already.

Our first post on ACRONYM was in October 2005, featuring “ACRONYM for Gradism.” What’s your first memory of Hypebeast? What were your initial thoughts?

Damn, that’s very, very early. 2005 that was probably the second season we did a collection. At the beginning we only did winter, we didn’t even do summer. We did winter to winter and needed all the time in between to execute. Hypebeast was one of the first platforms that ever reported on us, ever talked about us, and have for the entire length of our career. More than anyone else or any other media platform. Hypebeast has always supported what we’ve done, and we’ve always been grateful. So, first of many, first of many posts I think.

ACRONYM has been a mainstay on our platform over the years and remains popular with our audience. How have you managed to stay consistent and relevant?

How have we managed to stay consistent? I have no idea. I feel like that’s probably the last thing we think about. We’re so busy just trying to execute the product the way we imagine it. Marketing, communications, we don’t even have a person in sales at our company. All we do is design and produce and that pretty much takes all of our efforts. Maybe by doing that — by just focusing and not thinking about it — is how we do it. I don’t know.

How do you see your work — and your brand — evolving in the years to come?

Consistency is one of our core things. We’re very methodical about the products we put out and the way we make them. I imagine it’s not going to deviate too much in terms of that. Hopefully the results will still be surprising and interesting, probably because we also get bored. People always ask us, like, what’s your big strategy? And my answer is always the same: we just want to do the next season. All we want is to be able to keep going and that’s already very, very challenging.

We’re releasing 20 T-shirt collaborations to celebrate 20 years of Hypebeast. Graphic tees have long been the backbone of streetwear — what do you think gives them that cultural significance? How has their role in fashion and style changed over time?

I don’t know if it’s changed over time, but t-shirts are as pure of an information product as you can have in fashion. It’s really about identity. It just shows everybody what you care about, who you are, and in the most direct way possible. So that’s streetwear, right? That’s it, that’s the whole thing and I don’t see that going away anytime soon.

What advice would you give to emerging brands hoping to make a similar impact?

Don’t listen to anyone. Don’t give up. All the tropes. They’re all true. Ask for help. That’s probably the one that I should have listened to more. And take care of your friends. Look out for each other. The usual stuff.

What’s the number one lesson you’ve learned from running a brand for this long?

I feel like I’m still learning lessons every day. I just want to see everything. Maybe that’s the lesson, to understand that you will never stop learning. And stay humble. Keep working hard. That’s pretty much it.

Looking back over the years, is there a particular product, collection or moment that meant the most to you?

There’s so many. I would say the first jacket we did is definitely highlights and the first pant. That was fun because I remember going to the first meeting with all of the Nike leadership. And there was a snow storm that day in Portland. Nobody was at the office except all the heads of every department. Mark Parker was there. And I came in. And I think they were used to very slick looking decks and all kinds of stuff like that. Presentations and storytelling and whatever. And I just had these two raggedy self-zone, as in studio-zone prototypes, not even the right fabric. And I like what even introduced the collection as I got these two samples. They were like, that’s it? And then I was like, yeah, is anybody the right size?

And then we found somebody, I think it was the head of marketing. I was like, please put the trousers on and put the jacket on. And then we put them on and they were like, oh, you can sort of see the realization. Like, oh, you have been doing something. And so that was when I knew, okay, it’s gonna work. They get how we operate and we’ve managed to sort of do something they appreciate and it fits into the ACG philosophy.

Streetwear has evolved dramatically over the past two decades, where do you see it heading next?

That’s a good question. I mean, coming out of this sort of luxury streetwear moment, I feel like it might go back to its roots. More subcultural, more tribal, more like, this is by us, for us, you know? I hope it retains, or even embraces more than before, the DIY aspect of it. That is actually streetwear for me. And I hope the next generation of designers, artists, musicians, everyone, if they feel the need to express themselves, that’s a medium they can do it in. The world is better for it.

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Stay tuned for individual interviews with each of our 20th anniversary T-shirt collaborators, rolling out each day over the next week.