In a landmark convergence of contemporary art, independent activism, and Stockholm-born avant-garde fashion, acclaimed photographer Nan Goldin has lensed a striking anniversary campaign for Acne Studios. Commemorating the Swedish luxury house’s 30th anniversary, the collaboration bridges the worlds of high-end design and raw, unvarnished portraiture. True to Goldin’s signature aesthetic, the campaign eschews traditional, glossy commercial artifice in favor of an intimate, deeply personal gallery of friends, collaborators, and cultural icons.
The campaign pays homage to Acne Studios’ foundational ethos—an acronym originating from the brand’s birth name, “Ambition to Create Novel Expressions.” To capture this spirit of free expression, creative experimentation, and proud individuality, Goldin bypassed conventional commercial model agencies. Instead, she turned her lens toward the diverse ecosystem of artists, musicians, and actors who have shaped the brand’s universe over the past three decades. Anchored entirely in denim—the material that launched the brand in 1996—the campaign acts as both a retrospective of survival and a celebration of modern individualism.
Beyond the stylistic triumphs of the collaboration, the project arrives at a complex juncture in Goldin’s storied career. Universally recognized as both a master of photographic narrative and a fierce political activist, Goldin continues to balance high-profile commercial partnerships with her unyielding commitments to social justice. This comprehensive review examines the mechanics of the Acne Studios campaign, the rich history of Goldin’s intersection with the fashion industry, and the profound cultural weight she carries as an artist whose voice remains as vital as it is controversial.
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Detailed Chronology: From 1996 Raw Denim to a 2026 Anniversary Milestone
The Genesis: Stockholm, 1996
To fully understand the weight of Acne Studios’ 30th-anniversary campaign, one must trace the company back to its unorthodox origins. Founded in Stockholm in 1996 by Jonny Johansson alongside a collective of multidisciplinary creatives, Acne began not as a monolithic fashion house, but as a creative consultancy focusing on graphic design, advertising, and film.
To mark their entry into garment design, Johansson and his co-founders manufactured an initial, highly exclusive run of just 100 pairs of raw denim jeans, distinguished by stark red stitching on the seams. Rather than putting these pieces into traditional retail distribution, the collective gifted them directly to their inner circle of local artists, musicians, and thinkers. This gesture established an enduring blueprint for the brand: fashion as a vehicle for community, exchange, and creative validation.
The Evolution of an Avant-Garde House
Over the ensuing three decades, Acne Studios evolved from a Scandinavian cult favorite into a global heavyweight of contemporary luxury. The brand expanded its offerings from raw denim staples to full ready-to-wear runway collections shown regularly during Paris Fashion Week. Yet, despite its commercial expansion, Acne has consistently maintained its ties to the global art community. From collaborating with visual artists on runway sets to supporting emerging designers and musicians, the brand has continually weaponized its platform to platform non-conformist talent.
The 30th-Anniversary Collaboration
When planning arrived for the brand’s milestone anniversary, creative director Jonny Johansson sought a visual partner capable of honoring that original 1996 spirit without leaning into nostalgia or pastiche. Naturally, he turned to Nan Goldin.
"I have been inspired by Nan and her work for years," Johansson noted in an official press release. "So, when we realized we had 30 years to celebrate, it felt like the right moment to ask her. I wanted an icon, but I also wanted something very intimate and personal. She does that."
Theresulting campaign rolls out globally throughout the year, featuring a carefully curated cast shot through Goldin’s inimitable, voyeuristic lens. Rather than staging a sterile studio shoot, Goldin embedded her subjects in environments that echo her legendary documentary style—spaces suffused with warm, moody lighting, emotional vulnerability, and raw humanity.
Supporting Context & Metrics: The Cast, the Canvas, and Commercial Artistry
The Cast: Friends, Not Models
In line with Johansson’s vision to feature "friends, not models," Goldin’s sitters comprise an eclectic, multidisciplinary roster of contemporary cultural figures. The cast includes:
- Jonathan Lyndon Chase: The acclaimed visual artist who previously designed the striking runway set for Acne Studios’ Spring/Summer 2025 presentation at Paris Fashion Week.
- Peter Schlesinger: The renowned artist and sculptor, famously immortalized in early contemporary art history.
- Sandra Poulson: The multidisciplinary creator captured in an arresting all-denim look while seated casually on a studio stool.
- Juliette Lewis: The iconic actor and musician known for her fierce, uncompromising independent streak.
- Ellie Rowsell: Frontwoman of the alternative rock band Wolf Alice.
- Guinevere Van Seenus: The legendary model and photographer whose career spans decades of high-fashion history.
- Jordan Hemingway: A celebrated contemporary fashion photographer and filmmaker.
- Raya Martigny: The boundary-pushing actor and model.
- Rila Fukushima: The striking actor and model recognized internationally for her cinematic presence.
- An Unnamed Confidant: Acne Studios has teased one final portrait of an additional friend, scheduled to be revealed in a subsequent release.
Denim as the Ultimate Transformative Canvas
Every subject in the campaign is styled in denim, functioning as a direct historical nod to the brand’s 1996 origins. Johansson elaborated on the symbolic weight of the fabric: "Denim is the perfect canvas. We’re rooted in it. It’s a material of today that also ages and becomes something else through its story. Denim personalises itself through wear—it becomes yours."
This sentiment was echoed by campaign participant Jonathan Lyndon Chase. "Denim is part of my everyday wear inside the studio, or out for dinner," Chase remarked. "I love its multifaceted materiality."
Goldin’s Storied History with Commercial Fashion
While Goldin’s primary legacy remains anchored in fine art and documentary photography—exemplified by her seminal 1985 masterpiece The Ballad of Sexual Dependency—she has maintained a selective, highly curated relationship with the fashion industry over the past two decades. Her commercial portfolio includes high-profile collaborations with:
- RVCA (2010): Early explorations into blending skate culture and raw portraiture.
- Rodarte (2012): Capturing the ethereal, gothic-romance sensibilities of the Kate and Laura Mulleavy-led label.
- Medea (2018): Minimalist leather goods documentation.
- Supreme (2018): Aligning her countercultural perspective with streetwear’s most disruptive force.
- Gucci (2024): A major campaign featuring musicians Debbie Harry and Kelsey Lu.
The Gucci collaboration yielded a commercial and institutional after-life: Goldin subsequently exhibited the six resulting campaign photographs at Gagosian gallery. The prints were issued in editions of seven, with gallery prices commanding a baseline of $28,000 per print, proving that Goldin’s commercial output seamlessly transitions into high-value contemporary art market commodities.
Official Statements & Industry Perspectives
The partnership between Goldin and Acne Studios has drawn significant praise from fashion critics and art historians alike, celebrated as a rare example of a commercial campaign that honors artistic integrity.
Jonny Johansson on the Selection Process:
"The subjects are people from our universe—individuals we have collaborated with, spoken to, or had some kind of exchange with over the years. I wanted friends, not models. When you look at Nan’s pictures, you aren’t looking at clothes being sold; you are looking at lives being lived, relationships being honored, and an authentic human connection."
Jonathan Lyndon Chase on Materiality and Community:
"Working with Acne and being framed by Nan places you in a lineage of creative freedom. Nan doesn’t ask you to perform; she asks you to simply be. Combined with a material like denim—which records the history of your body, your movements, and your labor—the campaign feels less like an advertisement and more like an archive of our shared present."
Future Outlook: Art, Activism, and Market Realities
The Dual Identity of Nan Goldin
As Nan Goldin celebrates this major commercial milestone with Acne Studios, the broader arc of her career remains defined by an unyielding dedication to political activism. Her impact stretches far beyond the fashion houses and white cubes of the contemporary art world.
In 2017, Goldin survived her own battle with opioid addiction and founded P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now). Through the organization, she spearheaded high-profile, disruptive protests inside world-renowned cultural institutions—including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, and the Guggenheim—demanding that museums reject philanthropic donations from the Sackler family, whose pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma fueled the opioid crisis. Her fierce advocacy successfully forced major global museums to scrub the Sackler name from their galleries and walls.
The Personal Cost of Uncompromising Politics
Goldin’s activism, however, has not come without professional sacrifice. In recent years, she has emerged as one of the international art community’s most vocal supporters of Palestinian rights. She memorably used her platform during the opening of her major museum exhibition at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie in 2024 to condemn Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as a genocide—a sentiment she reiterated during a keynote talk in Arles, France, in 2025.
In a candid late-2024 interview with Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, Goldin addressed the professional fallout of her political stances, stating with characteristic bluntness: "My career tanked—my market tanked from one day to the next because of my support of Palestine."
Conclusion: A Lasting Cultural Footprint
The Acne Studios 30th-anniversary campaign arrives precisely because of—not in spite of—Goldin’s uncompromising nature. By enlisting an artist who refuses to soften her worldview for institutional comfort, Acne Studios has positioned its milestone not as a commercial victory lap, but as a testament to authentic, lived counterculture.
As the campaign images circulate globally, they serve as a powerful reminder of Nan Goldin’s dual legacy: an image-maker who can elevate a pair of raw denim jeans into a monument of human intimacy, while simultaneously shaking the foundations of global politics and cultural institutions.
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