Lifestyle

Swedish design meets British heritage in Mulberry and Acne Studios’ unexpected handbag collaboration



British heritage luxury house Mulberry and super minimal, streetwear-inflected Swedish label Acne Studios have come together on an unexpected collaboration.

Acne Studios x Mulberry, which lands in store today, marries design elements from both in a 17-piece collection of handbags and leather goods.

The signature origami knot of Acne Studios’ Musubi bag is, for example, laced through the silhouette of Mulberry’s iconic Bayswater bag, to create a practical yet edgy everyday bag that comes in regular or micro size and colourways of oak, black and pink.

“This is a collection about friendship and our freedom as brands to do what we want to do. It is like a conversation between Acne Studios and Mulberry, one that is founded in mutual respect and a desire to make great product,” says Jonny Johansson, creative director of Acne Studios.

Acne Studios x Mulberry

Elsewhere, Mulberry’s celebrated Scotchgrain bags have been reimagined by the Acne Studios design team, with multiple leather buckle strap fastenings and oversized metal hardware. The bag comes in messenger and mini cross-body satchel styles, available in pink and black crocodile print leather.

Particularly charming though is the newly designed collaboration logo, which is embossed on these bags, and features the letters of Acne Studios-like leaves in the Mulberry tree emblem.

Acne Studios x Mulberry

“The Acne Studios and Mulberry collaboration is a perfect manifestation of the spirit of both our brands. It showcases Acne Studios’ wonderful Swedish design ethos and celebrates both the British heritage and modernity of Mulberry,” says Thierry Andretta, CEO of Mulberry.

The collaboration, while surprising, makes sense for Mulberry, a brand that (following a six per cent decline in sales last year) is very much in need of an injection of cool. By partnering with millennial-friendly Acne, it will benefit from Acne’s strong social media following and appeal to a younger consumer base. The merits of the partnership for Acne initially appear less clear, however, according to BoF, it’s about the clothing-centric brand accessing Mulberry’s accessories-making know-how.

Acne Studios x Mulberry

Analysts estimate that Acne Studios garners only single-digital percentage revenue from handbags, leather goods and sunglasses. Saint Laurent, by comparison, brings in 69 percent of its revenues from leather goods.

“Bags is a relatively young product category for us, and it is obviously a very crowded market,” Mattias Magnusson, chief executive of Acne Studios tells BoF. “Mulberry have created some of the most iconic bags of our time and we were really keen to marry them with our design.”

Acne Studios x Mulberry

Accompanying the bags is a range of small leather goods in either Scotchgrain or pink grainy leather. There’s a laptop case, a medium sized pouch, a coin purse, a small zip-around wallet and a Scotchgain lanyard.

“There is pure Swedishness and Englishness to the collection that I think twists the look in an interesting way,” says Acne’s Johansson.

The full collection ranges from a £90 keyring up to the £1,295 Musubi Bayswater in Oak and is available to shop at both brands key stores and websites, and on Farfetch and Selfridges from today. Visit mulberry.com for more information.



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