Acne Delivers Its First Menswear Campaign, Starring Surfer Robin Kegel

For Spring/Summer 2016, Acne Studios created its first-ever menswear campaign—a series of visuals that were heavily influenced by the European surf culture. The unique source of inspiration is not only noticeable through the wavy, laidback imagery, but through the group of people who were involved in the project.

According to WWD, creative director Jonny Johansson tapped famed photographer and avid surfer David Sims to shoot the images. And when it came to selecting a campaign star, Johansson looked to Robin Kegel, a surfer/surfboard artist, who also created some of the patterns for Acne’s current collection.

Now Johansson’s decision to cast a non-professional model as his campaign star isn’t completely surprising. For Acne’s Fall/Winter 2015 campaign, he enlisted his 11-year-old son Frasse to model the women’s collection—proving a less familiar face may be just as effective as a big-name model. Just look at the buzz that surrounded the Saint Laurent ads that starred Joni Mitchell, or the Céline campaign​ featuring legendary writer Joan Didion. Sure, professional models are nice to look at, but they can also be predicable.

Check out a sneak peek of Acne’s Spring/Summer 2016 menswear campaign below. The full set of images will debut on Acne’s wesbite tomorrow.