While heritage wear is popular amongst bloggers right now, there’s always been certain regions that have attracted a certain amount of blogging attention. One is Japan and the other is Scandinavia – Sweden to be exact. One label that’s helped build the scene is Acne.

Standing for Ambition to Create Novel Expressions, Acne was started by Jonny Johansson and three colleagues in 1996. Johannson states that the collective has grown exponentially since it began. “With time the original company grew four individual arms; Acne Film, Acne Digital, Acne Creative and, of course, Acne Jeans. The concept has always been to combine art and industry in a manner which felt both visionary and logical, and this spirit is still what drives us today.”

Unfortunate name aside, the label has gone from strength to strength. In a Times interview, Johannson said, “I never felt comfortable with the name and, of course, now it’s too late to change it”.

In the early days, Acne’s calling card was their denim (hence the name Acne jeans). But while Acne are known for the denim, they go far beyond that. Aside from the usual garments needed to make a lifestyle brand, they make everything from children’s toys to furniture. When asked in Interview magazine about his relatively recent move into furniture, he replied “For me it was about experimenting, about seeing if there was anything in furniture design that was connected to our work in fashion”.

When asked about the design aspect in a 2006 interview with The Smith Report, he replies, “We are absolutely design driven in every respect. The inspiration that the design team use each season pushes the whole company forward. Through the collections we are always exposed to new creative references, something which in turn also, both directly and indirectly, influences the way we choose to communicate the collections themselves. In this sense we would like to think that we always push onwards, never standing still.”