Sweden -- A girl audaciously dressed in her boyfriends clothes is always a sight to behold. Relaxed and comfortable, this is a woman at ease in her body and in her self. Acne’s latest womenswear collection NEW STANDARD takes its cue from the more casual and sporty parts of the company’s menswear line.

Using basic garments such as the T-shirt, the chino, the shift dress, the biker jacket or the denim pant, all NEW STANDARD pieces have been paired down to their aesthetic origin, allowing the wearer herself to play with the components to arrive at her own personal style.

Acne’s Creative Director Jonny Johansson describes how the idea was first born:
“One morning not too long ago I was walking through New York’s Tribeca as the city was waking up. Coming towards me I saw a young woman cycling resolutely on some kind of racing bike. She was dressed in the greatest way. Effortlessly mixing a formal suit jacket with sporty leggings and cycling shoes, she wore her heavy bike chain as well as a sober leather bag around her chest. She had a pair of sizeable sunglasses on that gave her a fierce look that was somewhat undermined by her helmet which was askew. She was a great bundle of contradictions, yet she managed to look fantastic precisely because of it.”

This vision of paradoxical styles is what Jonny Johansson used as a starting point when creating Acne’s latest proposal, New Standard.

Mixing the feminine with the masculine and the athletic with the formal with as much ease as the free-spirited Tribeca girls heading to their conventional office jobs, here we can find all from over-sized suit jackets with toggles, zips or Velcro fastenings, latex cycling suits, classic raw-edged denim jackets made just a tad too big or shorts based on a man’s boxers.

All details in the collection are strictly for utility, and superfluous embellishments are nowhere to be seen. Similarly, the concept reflected in the style of the garment is also reflected in its making. By strictly adhering to the most straightforward way to get from A to B, Acne has with New Standard created a collection that makes maximum use of creative simplicity.

Jackets are un-lined in order to encourage a smooth multi-layered look, and garments are often finished with raw edges. Borrowing not just cuts and colours, but also materials from the menswear wardrobe, Italian suit or shirt fabrics can be found in their feminine equivalents, favourably matched with a flirty short skirt or, as our early-morning Tribeca girl, with a pair of leggings.

And in a homage to this anonymous working girl in a hurry, Acne has created its very own racing bike.