M LE MONDE
THE ELECTRIC COUNTERS OF SOPHIE HICKS
Words by Clément Ghys
Photography by Timothée Chambovet
April 2026
FRAME MAGAZINE
ACNE’S KOREAN FLAGSHIP HOVERS WEIGHTLESSLY AMID AN ASSEMBLY OF CONCRETE AND STEEL
By Shonquis Moreno. Photographs by Annabel Elston. March 2016
Designer Sophie Hicks’ flagship for Stockholm-based fashion brand Acne Studios in Seoul’s Gangnam district sits – gossamer and luminous – in a bed of wild strawberries, crowned with ductwork and lined with concrete. This industrial-ethereal contradiction reflects the area’s identity, as well as the contrast between Acne’s vocal aesthetic (the name of the label could refer to blemishes but is actually a cheeky acronym for the collective’s primary pursuit: Ambition to Create Novel Expressions) and the more retiring aspects of Swedish culture. ‘Sweden is a culture of light and air,’ Hicks writes, one that values ‘modesty and discretion’.
Inside, two floors of concrete poured in rough timber forms float amid – without touching – exterior polycarbonate walls through which daylight difuses onto freestanding steel garment displays. There is no decoration of any sort and no mechanical equipment, the ductwork that might have threaded the interior having been coiled atop the roof. The consonance of a handful of diverse materials – woodgrain-tattooed concrete surfaces and spiral stair, metal cash counter and displays, and glowing polycarbonate walls – vaporizes into an atmosphere of cool warmth. Hicks, with good reason, calls it ‘otherworldly’. — Shonquis Moreno
MAGAZINES
DEZEEN
SOPHIE HICKS CONCEALS “CONCRETE MONSTER”
By Alice Morby
Photography by Annabel Elston
September 2015
NR
SOPHIE HICKS DISCUSSES THE FASHION INDUSTRY AND HER CAREER IN ARCHITECTURE.
by Izzy Bilkus. Photographs by Adrian Gaut, Johannes Marburg, James Drew Turner and Annabel Elston.
Winter 2021
LIVING – CORRIERE DELLA SERA
SOPHIE HICKS: MY PRIVATE BRUTALISM
By Paola Menaldo
Photographs by Adrian Gaut
June 2019
AMC LE MONITEUR ARCHITECTURE
SOPHIE HICKS, FAÇADE EN PAPIER DE YAMAMOTO
By Maryse Quinton
Photographs by Johannes Marburg
February 2009
HÄUSER
FREIRÄUME
by Mary Boyd
Photographs by James Merrel
June 2012
GINZA SIX MAGAZINE
ALAIA: EMBEDDED IN THE DESIGN
by Yoshinao Yamada
Photos by Junpei Kato
Portrait of Sophie Hicks by Alasdair McClellan.
Autumn 2022
THE GUARDIAN
AZZEDINE ALAÏA
By Sophie Hicks
April 2018
PIN-UP INTERVIEWS, VOL. 1
SOPHIE HICKS
Words by Emily King
First published in 2013, reissued November 2025
SPACE MAGAZINE
ACNE STUDIOS
Interview by Park Sungjin
Photo by Annabel Elston
January 2016