Emerging in the dreary Britain of the late 70s and early 80s, the New Romantic movement was an explosion of bright colours, flamboyant androgyny and historical LARPing. Decked out in cavalry jackets and Elizabethan ruffled collars, Adam Ant, one of its leading lights, looked as much like a pirate or an extra in Barry Lyndon as he did a typical pop star. Acne Studio’s SS27 collection was directly inspired by this aesthetic, yet it offered a different and perhaps more mature take on it. As the show notes read, “picture the New Romantics reframed for a changed reality.”

The show was held against a backdrop of traditional carpets designed by Faig Ahmed, an Azerbaijani artist whose work draws upon the traditional textiles of his home country. This historical aesthetic was matched by the pieces themselves, or at least in part. As creative director Jonny Johansson explains, the collection was aimed at “bringing together two things that don’t belong”. To that end, the show combined a sumptuous period-drama decadence with more modern pieces, with taffeta tops, britches, draped skirts and allusions to Renaissance paintings appearing next to jeans, miniskirts and leather biker pants. It occasionally had something of a 1950s diner vibe, recalling Elvis Presley as much as Culture Club or Visage, and at other times the pieces looked like something you might wear to a Regency ball to impress Jane Austen trade.

For all the collection’s historical allusions, however, it never tipped over into Bridgerton cosplay. There was a sense of restraint and, thanks to a largely muted colour scheme, the show avoided the garishness of the New Romantics at their most excessive. More than its reference points, the collection was defined by its sharp tailoring and intricate attention to detail, such as the many floral garments, the ornate buckles on sandals and bags, and the brooches and jewellery adorned with portraits.

Scroll through the gallery above for the entire SS27 collection