PARIS — At Acne Studios, art is virtually woven into the clothing.

From runway show sets to capsule collections, creative director Jonny Johansson has treated the label as a laboratory for collaborating with artists. Now the Swedish brand is going one step further by converting its original Paris store into its first permanent gallery space.

The 650-square-foot boutique, opened in 2008 under the historic arcades of the Palais-Royal, will reopen on June 26 as Acne Paper Palais Royal, a venue for exhibitions, artist talks, magazine launches, book signings and other cultural events.

Johansson described it as a physical offshoot of Acne Paper, the magazine he launched in 2005 and revived in 2021. The publication recently celebrated its gold-themed 20th anniversary issue with pop-ups in Paris, Milan, New York City and Shanghai.

The magazine was originally designed to reflect Acne’s “democratic” approach to fashion and willingness to mingle with other brands and disciplines.

In a similar vein, the exhibition space will showcase both established voices and emerging talents, under the guidance of Thomas Persson, editor in chief of Acne Paper, and Lotta Nilsson, director of creative projects and publishing at Acne Studios, Johansson said.

“The gallery is sort of a pro bono space,” he told WWD. “We’re not gallerists and that needs to be said.”

The aim is not to buy or sell art, but rather to champion artists and thinkers, Johansson explained. “This is a space for people that we think maybe don’t have enough recognition, or that inspire us,” he said. “It’s more of a platform.”

Johansson has clung on to the location even as he expanded into more commercial areas of the French capital. Acne has two stand-alone boutiques: one on the storied Rue Saint-Honoré and one on Rue Froissart in the trendy Marais district.

“We never wanted to leave the space, but it wasn’t really efficient in terms of keeping it up,” he said of the Palais-Royal store, which marked the brand’s first location outside Scandinavia. “I love being there. It’s an area that I like a lot.”

The gallery will launch with a solo exhibition by Paul Kooiker, who contributed to the latest issue of Acne Paper and previously shot the brand’s fall 2022 campaign featuring Rosalía. The Dutch photographer will present a new body of work, titled “2025,” consisting of 42 portraits of students at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam.

Acne plans to host an opening cocktail on June 25 during the Paris men’s collections.

Unlike other luxury labels that position themselves as “cultural” brands, Johansson steers clear of blue-chip artists. “I wouldn’t do Warhol,” he said with a shrug. “We like to think ourselves as being a bit different in terms of [being] maybe more open, less corporate.”

Last month its store on Greene Street in New York showcased a selection of works by Jonathan Lyndon Chase to coincide with the Frieze New York art fair.

The Philadelphia-based artist, whose work explores queer Black identities through the lens of domesticity, designed the set for Acne’s spring 2025 show, in addition to a capsule collection of clothing and homewares launching worldwide in late June.

Meanwhile, the brand’s new Paris headquarters, to be officially unveiled in September, will feature pieces by close collaborators including Daniel Silver and Max Lamb.

While Johansson admits he prioritizes music over gallery hopping in his spare time, he likes to trawl art fairs for inspiration. But he’s grown tired of the official canon of good taste.

“You’re showing people that you can afford it. You’re showing that you have great taste, but it’s nothing else,” he said of the race to acquire trophy pieces. “Let’s show something of what’s being done now, which feels contemporary.”

While he conceded there’s always a strategic element to linking a clothing brand with cultural endeavors, he cautioned the relationship should never be too calculated.

“When you calculate these things, I think they lose value pretty quickly. They become soulless, so you need to act spontaneously to actually make something. It’s like making a song or whatever. If you think you’re gonna write a hit song, I don’t think you will, even if there’s a formula for it,” he mused.

“I don’t think you can calculate fashion either. You never know what’s going to happen, which is the beauty of it,” he continued. “And then if you start thinking that you’re going to buy culture, it’s the same as love. Probably you can’t buy it.”