Taking Liberty

>> In this instance, LA doesn’t stand for Los Angeles as one might expect, but Liberty Acne, AKA one of the best Liberty collaborations to have emerged in recent years and without counting them up, it’s safe to say there have been many.  Some have been awesome (Nike and Dr Martens spring to mind) and some have perhaps been a bit on the forgettable side.  I don’t say that lightly, considering I’m a Liberty print afficionado with a disproportionate amount of pieces in my wardrobe covered in their signature prints.  The danger of this liberal proliferation of all things Liberty print is that the novelty wears thin after a while.  The ongoing collaboration with Nike works because they take a different angle on its vast archive of prints every season, whereas most brands tend to gravitate towards the instantly recognisable tana lawn florals to deploy with ditzy charm.  Quite literally, some people take liberties with the Liberty prints.

Acne‘s Jonny Johansson has come in though and picked out some of Liberty’s older prints to marry up with their classic lamb leather pieces.  The result?  A seriously impressive capsule collection consisting of two biker jackets, a zip-up skirt, a leather tunic, tops and tees , and one standout pair of dungarees.  A baseball cap, a pair of sunnies, a pair of slippers and a pair of leather lace-up flats round off this weighty collection.  ““I have a personal and long history with Liberty prints, having used them as a source of inspiration in my early years as a designer. When we started exploring Liberty’s extensive heritage for this project, it almost felt like an overwhelming voyage.  We realised we had to come up with a strong contrast in order to make sense of it, so the team and I picked one favourite print each and integrated them with some of our classic leather pieces” said Johansson, of the collaboration.  The prints happen to be some of Liberty’s oldest – Jonny (coincidentally named), a paisley print, Eva, a Japanese-inspired pattern and Alma’s Bird, an Art Nouveau-ish bird print, all dating from the late 19th century, are put together in horizontal bands, in two sets of faded hues of weathered reds and browns, and classic blue.  The palette emphasises the print’s history but it’s the quality of the printed leather that really makes this collaboration sing.  The skirt, which I got this week, is especially tactile as the leather is super thin – paper-y almost – it’s like the printed end papers have been transferred to the cover of a beautifully bound leather book.  With all the respect for the old, Acne doesn’t ignore the new – biker jackets gets crystal lettering on the back in ode to the collaboration and sleeveless tops also get some basketball-inspired lettering in Swarovski crystals.  What could have been “just another” Liberty print collaboration comes up trumps.

Acne x Liberty skirt worn with Cacharel jumper, Fendi leather shirt, Nike x Liberty hi-tops and Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair Liberty print suitcase