While there are staple Swedish brands like Filippa K and Acne that put the Nordic country on the fashion map, Sweden is budding with designers to pay close attention to. The Land of the Blonde knows what’s up when it comes to style and Swedish designers are continually making bigger international names for themselves.
Part of the Swedish charm is the effortless style. The designs are wearable and classic, yet manage to be on trend, so they last longer than that Ikea dresser you’re already regretting.
Most Swedish brands are based in Stockholm, the nation’s capital, but luckily you don’t have to cross the Atlantic to see them. In no particular order, here are WATM’s 5 Swedish Brands to Watch:
1. The Local Firm – Combining high fashion with innovative denim design, The Local Firm has captured the industry’s attention. The collections are inspired by art, architecture and design from the former Eastern Bloc. Communist fashion? Either way, it works.
2. Camilla Wellton – Camilla Wellton’s philosophy for fashion is threefold: create, love, allow. Create clothes that enhance. Love life. And allow an awakening of the mind. Wellton is also constantly challenging design with her silhouettes, construction and tailoring.
3. Carin Wester –Carin Wester launched her brand in 2003, after graduating from Beckman’s School of Design and designing for the brand Paul & Friends. These experiences obviously taught her well—she now has her own men’s line, women’s line and limited handmade line. She even has her own flagship store in Stockholm.
4. Rodebjer - Another brand with a flagship store in Stockholm is Rodebjer. The designer, Carin Rodebjer got her start while studying at F.I.T., she was spotted on the street in New York wearing her own designs and the rest was history.
5. HOPE - With shops in Stockholm, Copenhagen and Malmö. HOPE is definitely a brand to take heed of. Designers Ann Ringstrand and Stefan Söderberg, launched their first women’s collection in 2002 and expanded to include men’s in 2005. They’ve won tons of fashion awards including the Nordic Design Award in 2010.
-Hana May
