Acien: Knitwear Along the Routes of Return

Acien is shaped by an understanding of textiles as mobile matter — fibres that travel through landscapes, hands and histories before arriving on the body. Founded in 2023 by Spanish designer Silvia Acién, the knitwear label brings together regenerative agriculture, ancestral craft and contemporary material research, tracing the routes that connect soil, fibre and wear.

From the "Overpopulated World" collection by Acien.

Acién’s approach grows from lived experience. Raised among the greenhouses of southern Spain, she learned early that cultivation relies on rhythm and restraint: land worked with care, harvest followed by rest. This sensibility underpins ACIEN’s material decisions today. Himalayan nettle is sourced through a social enterprise in Nepal; regenerative merino wool arrives from France; pineapple-leaf fibre, Tencel and lotus flower fibre sit alongside esparto dry branches gathered in Spanish mountain regions using techniques taught to her by her grandmother. Each material carries a specific ecology and labour history, chosen for durability, biodegradability and cultural continuity rather than scale...

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Image Credits:

Lead: From the collection 'Integrated Fight' by Acien.

All further images as credited in photo captions.