Acronym casts a long shadow over cyberpunk fashion
polygon.comLike most kids in the ’90s, my ideas about futuristic fashion were primarily driven by the self-lacing Nike Air Mags in Back to the Future 2. As I got older, I started reading William Gibson and Neal Stephenson, whose sartorial visions of cyberpunk were filled with selective minimalism, practical jackets, and mirrorshades. In Pattern Recognition, Gibson’s protagonist, Cayce Pollard, is “literally, allergic to fashion” thanks to her work as a coolhunting brand researcher, and she sticks to plain basics. Her armor to withstand a world of inescapable logos: an MA-1 bomber jacket from Buzz Rickson, a niche Japanese company that re-creates U.S. military flight jackets (and that worked on a collection with Gibson).
This no-frills philosophy seems in opposition to the business of video games — an industry dominated by relentless marketing, brand sponsorships, and (often) flashy merchandise that translates into easily identifiable fan allegiances. But the Cayce Pollard school of thought is alive and well in games that lean into literary cyberpunk’s fixation on military apparel, as well as the almost cosplay-like qualities of performance techwear that is almost certainly over-engineered for everyday use.
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In the heart of this Venn diagram is Canadian designer Errolson Hugh, who briefly appears in Death Stranding as Bridges employee Alex Weatherstone. Hugh is the co-founder of the exclusive Berlin-based techwear brand Acronym. His work spans decades and has devoted celebrity fans, like John Mayer, Henry Golding, Jason Statham, the late Robin Williams, Kojima Productions art director Yoji Shinkawa, and naturally,
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