“If I run from the bull, someone in the audience will yell that I am running because I am a woman and I am scared. So I will not run."

Knowing that a man in the same position, if cornered by a bull, would run, those were the brave words of a brave woman. Juanita Cruz was the world’s first female bullfighter. A pioneer of female Spanish bullfighting in the 1930s.

She initially fought in a mask, and chose to go by the name Senorita X, to hide her identity from her family and the audiences. But as her confidence in herself grew, so did her popularity. Cruz became a full matador de toros in Madrid in 1932 and became a celebrity.

During the Spanish Civil War she went into exile in Mexico, as the new regime forbid female torears. But Cruz had questioned the convention and become an inspirational figurehead for adventurous women in bull-fighting including Morenita del Quindio, Raquel Martinez and Maribel Atienzar. Perhaps the most famous name to this date, is that of Cristina Sanchez.

During her six-year career, Sanchez cut a phenomenal total of 316 bull ears. She was hailed a hero of the sport and ranked alongside that of pop stars, but she retired in 1999, rumoured to be demoralized by the lack of respect from her male contemporaries.

Nevertheless, it is the courage and poise of these women that remains an inspiration. The battle of masculine and feminine.

The contradiction of Cruz’s full skirts against the bull’s taut muscle. Sanchez’s traditional embellished traje de luces, or suit of lights, deflecting from the somewhat macabre scene before it. The angled shoulders under the feminine features, and the decorated Capri trousers wrapped around shapely legs. This balance of hard and soft embodies the idea of the female matador and the custom that they have permeated.

For a/w 2008, Acne has been inspired by the strength of these characters. Juxtaposing powerful shoulders and narrow waists, with soft skirts in fine silks, creating a contradictory, yet united, silhouette. A palette of blush pinks and deep charcoal should fight with each other, but instead there is a kinship. The collection’s aesthetic offers an understanding that this inspiration isn’t a battle, it is a considered collaboration.

Ernest Hemingway declared that “Bullfighting can be an art”, but it has always been a fashion.