Acne Studios Celebrates 30 Years of Denim with Nan Goldin

The Stockholm fashion house returns to its roots with an intimate anniversary campaign and a capsule of revived archival silhouettes.

Acne Studios is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a tribute to the fabric that started it all: denim.

When the label was founded in Stockholm in 1996, its debut consisted of just 100 pairs of raw denim jeans, each finished with distinctive red stitching. Co-founder and creative director Jonny Johansson gifted the pieces to artists, friends and other members of his creative circle, establishing the collaborative spirit that continues to shape the house today.

Nan Goldin Captures Acne Studios’ Creative Community

Three decades later, Acne Studios has invited acclaimed American photographer Nan Goldin to capture a new campaign inspired by those beginnings. Known for her deeply personal portraits, Goldin photographs members of the brand’s extended creative family wearing contemporary pieces alongside archival designs and reissued denim from across its history.

The cast brings together an eclectic group of cultural figures, including musician Ellie Rowsell, model and photographer Guinevere Van Seenus, artist Jonathan Lyndon Chase, photographer Jordan Hemingway, actor and musician Juliette Lewis, artist Peter Schlesinger, actor and model Raya Martigny, actor Rila Fukushima and artist Sandra Poulson. One final participant is still to be unveiled.

For Johansson, Goldin offered the ideal balance of iconic imagery and emotional intimacy. Her candid approach also reflects the character of denim itself: personal, tactile and made more compelling through lived experience. Rather than assembling a conventional cast of models, he looked to people who share an authentic connection with the Acne Studios universe.

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Inside the Acne Studios 30th-Anniversary Denim Capsule

Accompanying the campaign is a limited 30th-anniversary capsule that revisits three defining designs. The 1996 returns as a slim, low-rise jean, while the 2009 revives the era’s distinctive bootcut silhouette. A reissued denim jacket completes the collection.

Available now in Acne Studios boutiques and online, the capsule transforms the house’s earliest chapter into a contemporary wardrobe, honouring 30 years of creativity while reaffirming denim as one of its most enduring signatures.