The TwinkByTwink show kicked off NYFW ahead of the CFDA calendar with a simple ideology: “strip away the anxiety and elitism of fashion week and make everyone in the room feel like a star.” And that he did. Rather than a sterile runway show with expressionless models and robotically observant audience members, the room became a level ground where attendees and talent gawked at and cheered eachother on. The venue was abundant in queer culture, maximalism, and an overwhelming sense of safety to express yourself to the fullest.
Before entering the show, I noticed a guy holding a Dunkin’ coffee with a strawberry sprinkle donut slipped through the straw. God, I thought. That donut looks good. Who brings Dunkin’ to a fashion show? Little did I know.
On the runway, we saw many extravagant mixed-media art pieces that double as fashion statements. Among them, a Dunkin’ Donuts logo-themed outfit with built-in whipped cream bottle breasts. Adding theatrics, the model held a real bottle of whipped cream in hand. She approached the man with the sprinkled donut. Oh no. Sprayed it all over his face, sometimes into his mouth. But he liked it.
With an Americana influence thematically coursing through the show, it’s only natural that Dunkin was everywhere. Fun fact: Twink can be found at Dunkin nearly on the daily.
That wasn’t the only unexpected look. The runway was full of fur roadkill outfits, bright reds and blues, and the occasional butt cheek. The designs were, at their core, a political subversion. Made almost entirely of donated, recycled, and found items, the show was both a critique of fast fashion and a critique of the pretension in the art and fashion worlds alike.
The show was a celebration of individuality and community in the same beat. It was the kind of show that leaves you inspired, leaves you wanting more. More expression. More style. More fun. More donuts. And yes, I did have to get a strawberry sprinkle donut at Dunkin after the show, in honor of Twink.
The stark white room in which the conversation took place also doubled as a showroom for the clothing. Cow print jackets, butterfly sandals, bell-bottoms, and stone-washed slogan tees with the campaign’s tagline, “Born to Disobey,” splashed the walls with color. Various mannequins sporting Wilson’s signature rapunzel-like locks were styled in statement chain belts and tasseled purses overflowing with Y2K influence, making them seem like Steve Madden bobbleheads come to life.
The actual Vivian Wilson was styled indistinguishably from the mannequins, and across from Odell, also in Desigual, but in a nearly floor-length ombre orange dress, the youthful aims of the collection became quite clear. Having Odell as a moderator seemed to present a picture of womanhood for Wilson to grow into. When asked to describe the campaign in one sentence, Wilson quipped, “We do a little bit of looking camp right in the eye.”
The campaign features Wilson entangled with a robot. She walks it like a dog, operates on it, and tells it that “some things aren’t meant to be fixed.” The story is injected with Wilson’s bubbly public persona, something that is refreshing compared to the rigidity of the fashion world, but that’s what makes her so appealing to the public in the first place.
Her online humor and outspokenness is what’s pushed her into the public eye, regardless of any familial ties, and yet in some ways her affect reflects a young girl who's being pulled along by the whims of an industry. I asked Wilson what drives her to this kind of work, after she spoke to Odell about getting into acting while she continues to model.
I wondered whether this hyper-visibilty is something that’s been thrust upon her or something she actively chooses to move towards. She thought for a moment, then responded, “I mean it’s a bit of both, it’s a lot of fun.” This was followed by a bout of laughter that I had gotten used to throughout her conversation with Odell. She continued, “Obviously my introduction to the modeling industry with Teen Vogue was unconventional, but I’m embracing it.” Succinct and charming, I wished she had gone just a little bit deeper, if only to show what lies beyond the veneer of sudden celebrity. Before the Teen Vogue article, Wilson was making waves fighting the right, and by extension her father Elon Musk, on the internet. Since then, she’s appeared in a Katseye music video and debuted with Gucci at Milan fashion week, walking the same runway as Kate Moss and Emily Ratajkowski.
Sudden fame and the glamour of being a campaign star is always something that people on the other side want to know about, but for Wilson it seems like just another line through the bucket list. As a young trans woman myself, I was especially keen to hear what she had to say about appearing so publicly. However, Wilson was more keen to talk about the military-industrial complex, and encouraged people to “be cringey, be wild, be a little bit unclean!” She seems to take her positioning in the social landscape seriously, and spoke about the need to “[question] the societal expectations placed upon you, where things come from… having a sense of your own morality.” From someone else, these words could be read as platitudes, but her subjectivity as a young trans woman laughing in the face of immense public scrutiny gives them weight. Then, about thirty seconds later, she pointed at her pants and said, “these are a bit topsy-turvy, what’s going on?”
What began as a small Stockholm-based project has since developed into an international fashion house. Renamed Acne Studios in 2006, the brand has built its identity around contrasts — bringing together Scandinavian simplicity with more rebellious, unexpected and playful elements.
For its 30th anniversary, Acne Studios is returning to where it all began. Denim takes center stage once again, this time through a collaboration with American photographer and activist Nan Goldin. Known for her intimate and unfiltered approach to portraiture, Goldin photographs members of the Acne Studios community wearing pieces drawn from the brand’s past and present.
The series brings together contemporary designs, archival garments and reworked versions of some of Acne Studios’ most recognisable denim pieces from the past three decades. Rather than presenting a single, polished image of the brand, the portraits focus on individuality and personal expression, reflecting the experimental, independent spirit that has shaped Acne Studios from the very beginning.
The campaign brings together a diverse group of artists, musicians, photographers, actors and models, including Ellie Rowsell, Guinevere Van Seenus, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Jordan Hemingway, Juliette Lewis, Peter Schlesinger, Raya Martigny, Rila Fukushima and Sandra Poulson. Another member of the group will be introduced at a later date.
Many of those featured have worked with Acne Studios before, each contributing to the creative identity the brand has developed over the years. Their involvement reflects Jonny Johansson’s long-term approach to collaboration, relationships that can continue across multiple seasons and evolve over time.
