Acne Studios' Kappa Collaboration Was a Long Time Coming
The Jonny Johansson-led label has flirted with pitch-perfect apparel for almost a decade. Now, the brand is making its relationship with gamewear official.
The runway is certainly Acne Studios’ forte, but the Swedish luxury label is not unknown to the football pitch. Over the last decade, the Jonny Johansson-led brand has crafted game-inspired scarves, cleat-like sneakers, and even a full “Fotbollsklubb” collection to appease the football fandom. Last year, the imprint dropped one of the most sought-after fashion jerseys — a long-sleeve pastel pink top with swirly Acne Studios lettering front and center — that brought internet chatter to an all-time high at the pinnacle of luxury designers’ soccer coup.
Now, after much flirtation with pitch-perfect apparel, the label is making a more formal punt toward fashion’s goal posts, with a 22-piece Kappa collaboration.
Historically, Kappa is the Italian kit purveyor behind some of the most beloved football jerseys, spanning Juventus’ 1978 and AC Milan’s 1989 Home shirts to Manchester City’s 1997 and Brescia’s 2004 Away kits. And more recently, the brand is the stylish brain behind a suite of smaller, fashionable clubs, like UD Ibiza and Athens Kallithea.
So, Acne Studios’ team-up with the sportswear brand marks a much more serious attempt at tackling the unabated blokecore, and given the high-fashion brand’s rich history in designing game-adjacent garments, the collaboration was a long time coming.
Acne Studios
Citing inspiration from retro football kits, the capsule fuses classic sportswear codes with signature Acne Studios shapes and motifs. Standout pieces include flame-printed football jerseys in the same pink hue as last year’s Acne Studios kit, as well as pale-wash denim trousers and tracksuits featuring Kappa logo tape down the legs. Elsewhere, form-fitting tops are reminiscent of players’ second-skin base layers, and a new Bolina bag (which met the world on Acne Studios’ SS25 runway) boasts the collab’s flame iconography and dual logos.
The collection arrives with a campaign starring Tricky, the British record producer and musician known for his trip-hop records, like Maxinquaye. “Tricky’s music has had a real impact on my life. I’ve been a fan for a long time, and it just made sense to work with him for this project,” Johansson said in a statement.
“Great people. Really fun day. I usually get nervous in a room full of people I don’t know, but they made it feel like family,” Tricky added.
The Acne Studios x Kappa collection will be available to shop online on March 27 and in global Acne Studios stores on April 3. Take a look at the collection in the campaign above.
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