A couple of years ago, ACRONYM released a Death Stranding version of its famous J1A-GT jacket. It was stupendously good. It was priced at nearly $2,000. It sold out straight away. If you're a techwear-head who happens to be a fan of Hideo Kojima, you might have considered selling a vital organ on the dark web to afford one at resell. If you're a casual observer who has no idea what ACRONYM is, you might have clutched your pearls at the fact that, in the current economic situation, such a thing exists.
Within hours of the Kotaku Twitter account sharing its story on the jacket, a ton of replies bemoaning the price point had appeared. "It looks similar to my jacket I bought from Target for like $40," wrote one disgruntled person, while others communicated their disgust via those terrible, unfunny GIFs that have bizarrely become a kind of social media comment section lingua franca. Elsewhere, several media outlets picked up on the story, with one bewildered journalist asking, "Who the Heck Bought the $1,900 Death Stranding Jacket?" before literally soliciting buyers to send in photos of themselves wearing it. What the end game was there, I'm still not entirely sure. But I digress.
Equally, if you have never salivated over an entire ACRONYM collection, you may be tempted to roll your eyes at the prices featured in this year's 2023 Spring/Summer drop. We get it. There are a lot of luxury brands out there making overpriced, thoughtless trash that are worthy of such scorn. However, ACRONYM is not one of them.
The Errolson Hugh and Michaela Sachenbacher led brand has come to define modern techwear, continuously introducing new innovations to the field. Since its inception in 2002, ACRONYM has been committed to producing the best quality products. No marketing or in-your-face social media campaigns — resources are focused on the garments. Its products are literally its best marketing tools.
Even if you don't own any ACRONYM (like me), it's impossible not to admire the team's approach to functional fashion. The mystery behind the label's prices is well.. not so mysterious. Clothing is costly because of the materials, effort, and time it takes to make.
ACRONYM is utilitarian, futuristic, but most importantly, designed to keep you moving and secure even in the harshest environments. Swiss-sourced, industrial-spec micro twill, GORE-TEX® Pro, and high-density water-resistant cotton are materials commonly used across the brand's clothing. Garments, such as its J16-GT jacket, are researched and re-engineered versions of cult favorites, equipped with the brand's latest proprietary tech. There is a level of craftsmanship and prototyping that feels reminiscent of a couture house or space-age startup. Fans of the brand can rightfully argue that ACRONYM is the crème de la crème of techwear; the undoubted gold standard.
When judging truly sustainable fashion, the "less is better" mantra is always a good rule of thumb. As Hugh has said before, ACRONYM is fundamentally about acquiring less stuff. There's logic in buying a truly world-class jacket at $2,000 that lasts for 15 to 20 years, rather than re-upping on a new one every time winter rolls around. And that's before you get to all the bells and whistles of technology.
"When we make something, we're not trying to make it expensive to have some kind of clout or status factor," Hugh once said. "It's a function of the materials that we use and how [the product's] made and the time it takes to design it. It costs what it costs." Before continuing: "In most companies, no one cares about design; they just care about sales. ACRONYM was our response to that."
Evey ACRONY collection is another extension of this tenet, without the Hideo Kojima game-ready cosign. And, yes, there are pieces that rival that notorious Death Stranding jacket's price. But, if you haven't figured it out already, you're not really getting it.
For fans of the label, price is not a point of prestige. If anything, it is just a point of entry, a hurdle that opens the door to almost 20 years of enduring quality, innovation, and design.
It's hard to hate on that.
Shop ACRONYM's Spring/Summer 2023 Collection Below.
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