Acne Studios trades models for artists and writers

As if in direct response to Trump’s abhorrent #travelban, Acne Studio’s newly-released SS17 campaign – shot by Italian photographer Paolo Roversi – features artists, writers and other creatives of Iranian, Iraqi and Kuwaiti origin.

Shot like intimate polaroid portraits, Roversi lenses talents including the musician-slash-artist, Fatima Al Qadiri, artists Hayv Kahraman and Sadaf H. Nava, the actress Golishifteh Farahani, stylist Yasmina Benadelkrim and editor, Negar Azimi. All of them model clothes from Johannson’s SS17 offering, which was inspired in part by Middle Eastern textile traditions and a spirit of “openness”.

“This collection is about openness, and looking out into the world,” explains Acne Studio’s creative director Jonny Johansson. “I wanted to see what would happen when we asked Paolo to shoot portraits of artists and creatives from many different countries, with his own signature and atmosphere. Watching him work in his studio in Paris was like alchemy and such an honour.”

Bringing together people from all over the world to create something beautiful, this is campaign is a timely reminder of how much better it is when we celebrate our differences instead of building walls. 

See more of the images in the gallery above.