Acne Studios’ aoyama flagship draws from tokyo’s urban fabric
Acne Studios’ creative director Jonny Johansson and Stockholm-based architecture studio Halleroed collaborate for the new three-story flagship of the Swedish fashion house in Tokyo’s Aoyama district. The designers draw inspiration from the compact and layered nature of the city’s urban fabric and conceive the store as a creative home that is infused with local spirit and the brand’s long-standing affinity for Japan. This project includes a space where people can experience the brand in a more hands-on way. It combines unique materials, sculptures, and artworks that are made specifically for the location. Everything ties back to Acne Studios’ identity, but also feels connected to its surroundings in Japan.
Inside the new Aoyama location, visitors move through a series of tactile and visual contrasts. Seating by designer Max Lamb combines woven textiles with high-gloss pink patent leather, blending softness and shine. Custom lighting by Benoit Lalloz adds rhythm and atmosphere throughout the space, while ghostlike, expressive mannequins by British artist Daniel Silver introduce a sculptural, human presence. A curated selection of ceramics by Takuro Kuwata adds another layer, with bold colors, warped forms, and cracked textures that interact playfully with the surrounding architecture.
image courtesy of Acne Studios
takuro kuwata brings cracked beauty to limited collection
To celebrate the store opening, Japanese artist Takuro Kuwata collaborates with Acne Studios on a limited-edition capsule collection, available exclusively at the Aoyama flagship. Known for transforming traditional Japanese pottery techniques through his raw, explosive aesthetic, the ceramicist reimagines Acne pieces like the Camero bag, trompe-l’œil denim, and ceramic cups and wallets. Each item is infused with Kuwata’s playful tension between fragility and rupture, drawing from his ongoing explorations of wabi-sabi, the acceptance of imperfection, and kintsugi, the art of mending broken pottery with gold.
The collaboration stems from a visit to Kuwata’s studio in Tajimi, a city with a deep ceramic heritage. There, his creative process unfolds in a space surrounded by cracked glazes, dripping forms, and electric color. For the Swedish brand, this process resonated as an act of recontextualization that, much like the Halleroed-designed store itself, takes the familiar and remakes it anew through friction, layering, and collaboration.
Acne Studios opens the new three-story flagship in Tokyo’s Aoyama district
the designers draw inspiration from the compact and layered nature of the city’s urban fabric
visitors move through a series of tactile and visual contrasts
seating by Max Lamb combines woven textiles with high-gloss pink patent leather
custom lighting by Benoit Lalloz adds rhythm and atmosphere throughout the space
a curated selection of ceramics by Takuro Kuwata adds another layer
Japanese artist Takuro Kuwata collaborates with Acne Studios on a limited-edition capsule collection
the ceramicist reimagines Acne pieces
Acne Studios celebrates Aoyama flagship opening with a pink bus
project info:
name: Acne Studios Aoyama | @acnestudios
architect: Halleroed | @halleroed
creative direction: Jonny Johansson, Acne Studios
location: 5-3-2 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
interior seating design: Max Lamb
lighting design: Benoit Lalloz
sculptural mannequins: Daniel Silver
ceramic works + capsule collaboration: Takuro Kuwata | @takurokuwata
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