facts about sweden | fashion

From classic, clean lines to avant-garde shock value, from everyday items to haute couture, Swedish fashion brands such as (from left) Filippa K, Cheap Monday and Acne have built up a strong reputation around the world.

About ten years ago, people started talk-ing about the Swedish ‘fashion wonder’. Opinions differ as to what this actually means. Is it a reference to Acne’s fairy-tale success, to the huge quantities of clothing that H&M sells worldwide, or to artistic, avant-garde fashion? Some people argue that there have in fact been several Swedish fashion won-ders, although the generic term refers to the rapid development of Swedish fash-ion as a whole.

Filippa K and Anna Holtblad were among the trailblazers for the Swedish

fashion:

the swedish fashion wonder‘Less is more’ accurately describes much of swedish fashion. there’s a fondness for discreet colors and a pared-down, refined look. as with so many aspects of life, swedes tend to take a practical approach to what they wear, but this doesn’t mean there is any lack of creativity.

PH

OtO

: AC

ne

St

ud

IOS

PH

OtO

: CH

eA

P M

On

dA

y

PH

OtO

: FIlIPPA

K

�

sweden.se

fashion miracle. Filippa K’s business idea is to design, manufacture and sell wear-able fashion garments and accessories with a timeless style. early on, Filippa K made her name in Sweden with her characteristic women’s stretch jeans. A few years later, Filippa K Man was launched, and the brand be-gan to spread across europe and north America. today, Filippa K clothes are sold in some 700 stores in 17 countries. filippa-k.com

Anna Holtblad has received wide acclaim for her knitted collections. Holtblad sells

her designs via her own shop in Stock-holm and via retailers in europe, north America and Japan. annaholtblad.com

designer jeans have made a significant contribution to Swedish fashion exports. Acne Jeans, founded in 1996, placed Sweden on the international jeans map. Acne saw a rising demand for denim on the market and designed 100 different styles of unisex jeans. Once primarily a jeans label, Acne now produces interna-tionally recognised fashion collections. shop.acnestudios.com

Filippa K. Cheap Monday. Acne.

facts about sweden | fashion

Learn more

stockhoLm fashion week

twice a year, in August and in January/February, the Swedish Fashion Council organises Stock-holm Fashion Week, an event for the fashion industry. In May and november, the council organises Stockholm Fashion Week Retail-er Collections, aimed mostly at Swedish journalists and trade pro-fessionals. stockholmfashionweek.com

mercedes-benz fashion week in stockhoLm

Held twice a year. Its main focus is to get the international fashion community, including the media and fashion buyers, to take a closer look at the Swedish fashion scene. mercedesbenzfashionweek.se

the swedish fashion counciL

Set up in 1979 to promote Swedish fashion in Sweden and abroad, the council analyses trends in fashion and interior design, and is a plat-form for cooperation in the Swed-ish fashion and textile trade. moderadet.se

nordic fashion association

Founded in 2008 by five nordic fashion organisations: the danish Fashion Institute, Helsinki design Week, the Icelandic Fashion Coun-cil, Oslo Fashion Week and the Swedish Fashion Council.

the nFA’s aim is to promote cross- border projects in the fashion field. One such example is nICe – nordic Initiative, Clean and ethical – a joint commitment by the nor-dic fashion industry to take a lead-ing role in social and environmen-tal issues. nicefashion.org

Cheap Monday’s characteristic un- washed slim jeans with the skull label have spread across the world since the brand was launched in 2004. Cheap Monday is now found in 35 countries with 1,800 stores. today, it is owned by H&M. cheapmonday.com

WeSC (WeAretheSuperlativeConspiracy) was founded in 2000. Initially flourish-ing mainly in street and skateboarding subcultures, the brand soon became in-ternationally known as a result of clever marketing. Instead of regular advertising, WeSC largely relied on famous actors and artists to wear and thereby promote their clothes. today, the brand has stores in cities such as tokyo, Paris and new york. wesc.com

2 |

�

sweden.se

Nudie Jeans, founded in 2001, was one of Sweden’s fastest-growing fashion companies in the early 2000s. Its long-term goal is to use organic cotton as much as possible in its garments. For the spring/summer 2013 season, 100 per cent of nudie’s denim garments were made from organic cotton. nudiejeans.com

Whyred produced its first menswear collection in 1999 and its first women’s collection one year later. Whyred makes clothes inspired by art and music. the Whyred Art Project is a series of joint ventures with contemporary artists, in-cluding Jockum nordström. the company sells its wares in some 200 stores in more than 20 countries. whyred.se n

designer jeans have made a significant contribution to Swedish fashion exports. WeSC and nudie are among the biggest names in Swedish denim.

PH

OtO

: JOn

AS

lIne

ll/nu

dIe

JeA

nS

PH

OtO

: We

SC

h&m has conquered the worLdAnn Ringstrand of Hope, and Carin West-er. In recent decades, H&M has also col-laborated with world-famous designers and pop stars.

Among them are: • Karl Lagerfeld (2004) • Stella McCartney (2005) • Jimmy Choo (2009) • Donatella Versace (2011) • Isabel Marant (2013).

In May 2013, the company released a collection in collaboration with singer Beyoncé. H&M has also collaborated with Madonna and Kylie Minogue. hm.com

For many, H&M is synonymous with Swedish fashion. The company has also become something of a breeding ground for young designers.

Hennes & Mauritz, or H&M, is a chain store whose low-priced clothing spread around the world as far back as the 1950s. the chain was founded by erling Persson, who opened the first store in Västerås in 1947. today, the fashion retailer has over 100,000 employees and more than 3,000 stores in 48 countries.

Several of today’s hottest Swedish de-signers have worked for H&M at some point, including Roland Hjort of Whyred,

WeSC. nudie.

facts about sweden | fashion

training in sweden

university coLLege of arts, crafts and design

One of the oldest art and design colleges in Sweden, founded in 1844. the college is just south of Stockholm city centre and offers courses at bachelor’s and master’s levels. konstfack.se

beckmans coLLege of design

the college, located in Stockholm, was founded in 1939. It offers three-year BA degree courses in art and design. there are three different programs: Fashion, Visual Communications, and Product & Interior design. beckmans.se

the schooL of design and crafts

the school is part of the university of Gothenburg. Craft courses at the school include jewellery, textiles and ceramics. hdk.gu.se

the swedish schooL of textiLes

Located in Borås, the school offers expertise in all textile fields from craft and design to technology, pro-duction, finance and marketing. hb.se/wps/portal/ths

the unit for fashion studies

Part of the department of Media Studies at Stockholm university, it offers fashion as an academic field of study both in Sweden and at an international lev-el. the unit teaches the theory and aesthetics of fashion, its social func-tion and its history. www.ims.su.se

more stars on the fashion scene hope, carin rodebjer, carin wester, v ave shoe repair, sandra backlund and ann-sofie back are some of the stars on the swedish fashion stage.

3 |

sweden.se

Hope, comprising the design duo of Ann Ringstrand and Stefan Söderberg, has long been syno- nymous with Swedish

and Scandina-vian style. the two specialise

in clean, simple

lines and well-made details, and seek to produce garments that last.

hope-sthlm.com

Carin Rodebjer’s formula is effortless elegance for

all occasions for the modern and universal woman. In 2011, Rodebjer launched a web shop and established its first inter-national branch in new york.

rodebjer.com

Dagmar is run by three sisters and known for its modern take on

knitwear. Seen on the likes of Beyoncé, the label’s sensual and unconventional designs have had considerable inter-national success. houseofdagmar.se

Ida Sjöstedt combines ready-to-wear collections with couture dresses for private clients. She won the Guldknappen Readers’ Choice Award for best designer in 2011. idasjostedt.com

Menswear brand Common is giving street wear a Scandinavian spin with clean lines and modernist prints. de-signed by Saif Bakir and emma Hedlund, the label is showing in london. common-swdn.com n �

V Ave Shoe Repair, started by Astrid Olsson and Lee Cotter, draws inspira-tion from sculpture and architecture. deconstruction – using old clothes, tak-ing them apart and putting them back together in new ways – is a recurring technique. vave-shoerepair.com

Ann-Sofie Back has attracted plenty of attention and made a notable international career. Back has also worked as a designer for Acne and is now creative director at Cheap Monday. annsofieback.com

Tiger of Sweden was founded 1903. It marketed something completely new – mass-pro-duced suits – and met with success. After some ups and downs the company redefined its profile in the late 1990s. the idea was to take suits out of the bank and into the street. In 1997, tiger released its first women’s col-

lection, followed in 2000 by the launch of tiger Jeans.

tigerofsweden.com

Sandra Backlund is known for her

hand-knitted, oversized de-signs. Backlund has made a splash on the

internation-al scene and has worked

with design-ers such as Marc

Jacobs, emilio Pucci and louis Vuitton. sandrabacklund.

com

PHO

tO: RO

deBJeR

PH

OtO

: Pe

te

R FA

RA

GO

/ S

An

dR

A B

AC

Klu

nd

PH

OtO

: HO

Pe

Carin Rodebjer.

Hope.

Sandra Backlund.

Learn more

up and coming

Since 2005, the Swedish Fashion Coun-cil has been running the Rookies project, established to support small fashion de-sign companies. the labels selected by the Rookies jury are presented at exhibitions, shows and other events. One of the labels is then chosen as Rookie of the year. In 2013, the winner was Mes Dames, which received its award during the fall edition of Stockholm Fashion Week.

guLdknappen

A prize instituted by the Swedish fashion magazine Damernas Värld in 1982. Its pur-pose is to support individual designers and further their careers. In 2013, the prize went to Ulrika Lundgren and her label Rika.

swedish designer of the year

At its annual gala, fashion magazine Elle announces its choice of Swedish designer of the year. In 2013, the prize went to Swed-ish fashion’s enfant terrible, Ann-Sofie Back, for the second time.

fashion bLogs

the considerable allure of Swedish fashion is reflected not least in the rapid advance of the fashion blog. In 2009, the phenomenon exploded and there are now hundreds of fashion bloggers with readers both in Swe-den and around the world. One of the most successful is Elin Kling. stylebykling.nowmanifest.com

facts about sweden | fashion

Copyright: Published by the Swedish Institute. november 2013 FS 26.

All content is protected by Swedish copyright law. the text may be reproduced, transmitted, displayed, published or

broadcast in any media with reference to sweden.se. However, no photographs or illustrations may be used.

The Swedish Institute (SI) is a public agency that promotes interest and confidence in Sweden around the world. SI seeks

to establish co-operation and lasting relations with other countries through strategic communication and exchange in the

fields of culture, education, science and business.

Further information about Sweden: sweden.se, the Swedish embassy or consulate in your country,

or the Swedish Institute, Box 7434, Se-103 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Phone: +46 8 453 78 00; e-mail: si@si.se

www.si.se www.swedenbookshop.com www.swedenabroad.com

sweden.seP

HO

tO: S

We

dIS

H H

AS

Be

en

S

Swedish Hasbeens brought the tradition-al wooden clog back into fashion.

fashion for the futurethe fashion industry is facing some major environmental chal-lenges. these include a growing mountain of waste, harsh work-ing conditions in the supply chain, the high level of water con-sumption, and the use of chemicals in the production process.

the vision of the Sustainable Fashion Academy (SFA) is an apparel industry that creates ‘happier people, stronger communities and a resilient planet.’ the SFA’s mission is to accelerate innova-tions within the industry to ensure this happens. sustainablefashion-academy.org

Sustainable fashion is important to many designers in Sweden. Uniforms for the Dedicated is a menswear label with an individualistic design aesthetic, commit-ted to treating the earth with respect. uniformsforthededicated.com

the shoe company Swedish Hasbeens entered the market in 2006. It produces sustainable handmade collections using traditional methods in small factories, emphasising respect for people and the environment. Swedish Hasbeens currently sells its footwear in 22 coun-tries. swedishhasbeens.com

One of the pioneers of sustainable fash-ion is Gudrun Sjödén, who launched her company of the same name in 1976. Her business idea is to produce colourful home textiles and clothes in natural ma-

terials, featuring functional models that suit all ages and figures. environmental thinking is part of all its collections. gudrunsjoden.com

Other designer labels that emphasise on sustainable fashion include Dem Collec-tive, Bergmans and accessories brand Nordisko.

usefuL Linksasfb.se Association of Swedish Fashion Brands

beckmans.se Beckmans College of design

hdk.gu.se the School of design and Crafts

ims.su.se the unit for Fashion Studies

konstfack.se university College of Arts, Crafts and design

mercedesbenzfashionweek.se Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

moderadet.se the Swedish Fashion Council

nicefashion.org nordic Initiative, Clean and ethical

rohsska.se the Röhsska Museum of Fashion, design and decorative Arts

stockholmfashionweek.com Stockholm Fashion Week

stockholm-streetstyle.com Stockholm Street Style

sustainablefashionacademy.org the Sustainable Fashion Academy