In 2015, Acne Studios expanded its Berlin presence with a flagship store on Potsdamer Strasse, an address more commonly associated with contemporary art galleries than high fashion.
Designed by Michail Blösser of Bubab Architects, the 260-square-meter space embodies the Swedish label’s refined minimalism while absorbing the experimental energy of its surroundings. The boutique becomes less a conventional retail environment than a dialogue between fashion, architecture, and Berlin’s cultural topography.
The design pivots around stainless steel, a material often linked to severity, here reimagined with subtlety. Rows of luminous strip lights carve out geometric perspectives, emphasizing the store’s labyrinthine structure. The choice of chalky pale yellow concrete walls—an homage to Berlin’s ubiquitous taxi fleet—infuses the metallic interior with an understated warmth, while terrazzo floors and custom sculptural furniture temper the austerity. This layered approach prevents the space from lapsing into sterility, instead offering a nuanced balance between rigor and softness.
Positioned within a gallery district, Acne’s Potsdamer store underscores fashion’s proximity to contemporary art. The absence of neighboring fashion retailers, save for Andreas Murkudis, grants the store an aura of autonomy. The interior reads as a site-specific installation: steel partitions, elongated tables, and carefully considered lighting resemble curatorial gestures as much as commercial design. In this sense, the architecture becomes a form of brand storytelling, a tactile extension of Acne’s identity as both fashion house and cultural interlocutor.
Mikael Schiller, the brand’s chairman, has described Berlin as an “emotional city” for Acne—its first international outpost more than a decade earlier. That sentiment resonates in the new flagship, where the rawness of the architecture preserves the building’s original character. By resisting over-polish, the store aligns itself with Berlin’s ethos of unfinished beauty, a quality that continues to lure artists, architects, and designers alike.
Rather than imposing a homogenized aesthetic, Acne Studios has cultivated a spatial identity that is both unmistakably its own and deeply attuned to the city it inhabits. As the brand expands to new locations in New York, this Berlin flagship offers a case study in how architecture and fashion can coalesce into a singular cultural experience.
