Daphne And Daisy Welcome Acne To Wobo

At his new four-story space in Mayfair’s “Wobo” (that’s West of Bond Street), Acne’s Jonny Johansson tells Style.com why he chose upscale Mayfair rather than edgy Shoreditch for his first retail shop in London: “Space has always been more important than location. We looked at so many places and knew this was the right one because of its history—we knew we could add our own contemporary twist to it. It was big, raw and challenging.” Fortune favors the brave, but the process wasn’t without its ups and downs. “Let me tell you, halfway through I was regretting it,” Johansson adds with a chuckle.

But no regrets last night, when the London scene descended—despite the searing heat, which kept many hovering outside—to see the shop. Daphne Guinness (in a nail-covered Gareth Pugh suit, sharp enough that she was scratching fellow partygoers as they jostled by, below), Daisy Lowe (above, with Johansson and Jaime Winstone), Henry Holland, Alexander Dellal, Anouck Lepère, and Lulu Kennedy all dropped by for a peek at the multilevel space.

Wobo is the neighborhood of choice these days for any designer of repute, and Acne’s neighbors include Marc Jacobs, Rick Owens, Stella McCartney, DVF, Charlotte Olympia, and, of course, Rei Kawakubo’s iconic Dover Street Market, right down the block. “I find Dover Street Market utterly amazing and inspirational—I am trying not to think about being so close to such a legend.” His own legend may well be in the making.

—Afsun Qureshi

Photos: Courtesy of Acne