Swedie Pie

Rodebjers S/S2011

House of Dagmar A/W 2010

Cheap Monday S/S2011

 Loyal blog readers, I'm sorry it's been a while.

I’ve been subjected to many-an-internet problem over the last 4 weeks, and as much as I’d like to, I just can’t blog at work. I’d just end up mixing far too many French influences and I’ve decided that French fashion is just too obvious for what this blog is all about. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, I’d just much rather look at other influences, and to be quite honest, there's time for simple, serious fashion (a la Paris) when we're older. But for now, I think we should be making the most of fashion experimentation.

For example, I've been spending a lot of time studying the Swedes. Prompted by the amazing 'Let the right one in' by Tomas Alfredson, I started looking into Swedish cultural influences - fashion, film, art and design.

So on the subject of Fashion, of course we're all familiar with Cheap Monday, Acne, H&M. But there's much more to the Swedish fashion scene than this. Having looked around, I believe that their style is cool, clean, chic, contemporary and creative (five adjectives I love almost as much as I love alliteration!)

This is what Cia Jansen, fashion editor as Swedish Elle has to say about her native country's fashion scene:

"We Swedes have essentially a very practical approach to clothes, even if we’re very fashion and trend-conscious. When we dress up, we don’t dress up too much. There’s not such a difference between how we dress at work, in our time off, and at parties. Even when our clothing is decorative, it has a practical function. I think that the Swedish approach fits very well with the modern lifestyle embraced by people all over the world. Perhaps we’re ahead of our time up here.

One positive trend is that Swedes themselves have started to buy Swedish design and that pieces by Swedish designers are now available at more places all over the country, including the big department stores. In Stockholm many designers have their own stores, where you can see their entire collections, like Rodebjer, Whyred, Nakkna, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, Carin Wester, Anna Holtblad, the jewelry designers David & Martin and many others. Of course Acne is the flagship − they have proven that it’s possible to build a brand on the international market, based on a jeans collection. Cheap Monday is another phenomenon, with its Weekday stores. And you can’t forget larger, established brands like Filippa K, Tiger and J. Lindeberg, and of course H&M, which is everywhere.
In general I think the Swedish fashion scene is good, exciting and creative, with lots of interesting concepts and shops. And you get a lot of fashion for your money. Remember, both IKEA and H&M come from Sweden. Swedes are used to being able to buy contemporary, chic design that doesn’t cost a fortune.”

  xxxx

 

Carin Wester A/W2010

Filippa K A/W 2010