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Archive for Daniel Björk - Fashion

Daniel Björk thinks the strength of Swedish fashion lies in it being accessible without becoming boring.

A question of shorts

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My summer look this year. Shorts it is!

Every year there is a big discussion (I’m using the term “big” loosely here) in Stockholm about whether it’s OK to wear shorts in the city. I’m a bit confused about this since men’s fashion has shown men in suit jacket and shorts for many seasons now, which is therefore a perfectly acceptable look. I myself have three pairs of Jil Sander shorts, one of them (I’m not kidding) in mint green leather.

My colleague at Rodeo, Johan Wirfält, wrote about this last year as a response to the editor in chief of King Magazine, Per Nilsson, who emphatically concluded it wasn’t OK to wear shorts in Stockholm city.

This year the discussion was taken up by the hipster site throwmeaway.se and both of them see the shorts taboo as a sort of anti-gay sentiment. It is just “too gay” to wear shorts as a man (because as Kristofer Andersson at Throw Me Away observes, this is a ban only of male bare legs).

I really couldn’t care less whether it is seen as gay or not gay to be a shorts guy, but we must be more precise here – it is not seen as gay to wear cargo shorts in the city, just a bit too casual for inner city life perhaps. Rather we are talking about tailored shorts and we are talking about very short shorts, showing quite a bit of leg.

Personally I’m definitely going for the short tailored shorts look this summer. I’ve already road tested my mint green leather ones (although admittedly they are a bit tricky to pull off) and is trying to find the right moment to don my “faux” double breasted suit jacket with matching shorts.

This is the last post from me for a while, but I hope I will see you sometime after summer. All the best – and don’t be afraid of the shorts.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

June 17, 2011

Swedish fashion publications

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An image from the book Nordic Women in Chanel. Photo: Peter Farago and Ingela Klemetz Farago

One way to get to know a country’s fashion scene is by reading the publications that come out of it. And with that I mean both magazines and books.

Back in the day, there used to be a magazine called Stockholm New, which turned more and more into a fashion publication as the years passed, but it is now defunct. There was also Bibel, the fashion mag that in many ways ignited interest in fashion in Sweden and made it “hip”. Had they been out today I would’ve told you to get a hold of them.

So what is out there these days? There are the big titles such as Swedish Elle, which together with Damernas Värld (and especially their “fashion only” title DV mode, which comes out three times a year) form the commercial nexus of Swedish fashion media. Perhaps we should add Plaza Magazine to this mix, which during the last decade has been constantly rising in stature.

These days, I mainly work with Bon Magazine, a quarterly magazine in Sweden and a biannual one internationally. I also write for Rodeo Magazine’s website and they are also doing a biannual these days, in Swedish though.

The closest we have to a Stockholm New would have to be Stockholm S/S/A/W which catalogues the collections each season.

On the men’s side there are mainly two titles, Café and King Magazine, both of them geared towards a mainstream audience.

When it comes to books there are a couple of books in Swedish that might be interesting, should you be able to read it. For a good overview of Swedish fashion writing, try Sexton svenska texter om mode, an anthology of 16 fashion articles, including two by yours truly.

Susanne Pagold used to write about fashion for Dagens Nyheter, the main morning paper in Sweden, and she wrote a book called De långas sammansvärjning (The conspiration of the tall), which is a very interesting time document when it comes to the slightly defensive and negative tone people used to employ when writing about fashion before the Noughties. For a counterpoint, Martina Bonnier’s Fashionista is a style guide from the editor-in-chief of Damernas Värld, and earlier this year, Sofia Hedström, my colleague at Svenska Dagbladet, released Modemanifestet: de stilsmartas handbok, a book about a global movement for using clothes more responsibly.

There are obviously photography books as well. Thomas Klementsson is a friend of mine but also a brilliant photographer and I wrote the foreword to his book Arkiv. Currently I’ve just rounded up work on a forthcoming book by Carl Bengtsson who has been working since the Seventies – photographs will be exhibited at Röhsska museet in Göteborg in September. These are only two recent ones. I could add the upcoming book with Chanel clothes and Nordic models which has been produced by Peter Farago and Ingela Klemetz Farago, and which also will spawn an exhibition at Fotografiska, opening on July 1.

So far I haven’t written a book myself, partly because I’ve never really been interested in writing a style guide or anything else that is supposedly commercial enough. But who knows, things might change… I did have a good idea the other day, but I’m not promising anything.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

June 14, 2011

Acne Paper in our hearts

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A possible cover from the pressrelease about the upcoming issue 12 of Acne Paper. Photo: Acne

Since I’ve been writing about fashion since before Acne was born I know it has not always been the company that the world abroad knows. Not that there’s anything strange with that, it’s quite possibly one of the strengths of Acne that they have been able to change so drastically. Even if they don’t and won’t change as much as they have in the past, this openness is evident in for example the collaboration with Candy Magazine (they did a transgender collection together).

But disregarding the fact that Acne makes actual clothes that people seem to love it is difficult to understate the importance of Acne Paper. I remember when the first issue came out and it felt very nice, Seventies in its feel it made me think of photographers like Francesco Scavullo.

It was with the magazine that Acne became the Acne of today. The magazine gave the brand a story it had lacked – it created a world for the brand. It also captured the imagination of the fashion world. Sofia Coppola might’ve namechecked her Acne jeans in French Vogue in December 2004, but in autumn 2005 Acne Paper was born and really made people look twice at that Swedish jeans company.

That first issue did come across more like a publicity vehicle for the brand than it does today since the fashion stories were all shot with Acne clothes. But already in the second issue, it became a proper magazine, and since then it has gone from being a PR stunt to an important voice in the fashion media.

It is a very rare bird in the fashion world, even if other brands have done magazines, mainly because of the strong vision of the editor-in-chief, Thomas Persson.

The next issue is out the second week of July, but in the meantime here are some of my favourite covers (at least for the moment).

Acne Paper No 4 - Playfulness Photo: Benjamin Alexander Huseby


The cover is a reference to a photo of the legendary eccentric Quentin Crisp, shot by Joseph Mulligan.

Acne Paper No 6 - Exoticism Photographer: Terry Tsiolis


I loved this mix of East London club kid and something much more savage.

Acne Paper No 7 - Tradition Photo: Daniel Jackson


This shot of model Guinevere van Seenus is more painting than fashion shot and shows how daring Acne Paper really is.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

June 8, 2011

Online shops for Swedish fashion

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So you love Swedish fashion but you’re not sure how to get a hold of it? Or maybe you are just vaguely interested in Swedish fashion designers and want to find out more about the looks and the prices?

In any case, I decided to get you started. Fashion is many things: cultural phenomenon, artful endeavour, beauty ideal, and yes – shopping. So indulge should you find something that tickle your fancy.

The webshop for Tjallamalla.

Tjallamalla

Tjallamalla is a store on Södermalm in Stockholm and it’s been introducing young Swedish designers to the world for more than ten years. Shop cute clogs from There goes the neighbourhood or flowery dresses from Carin Wester.

Aplace web shop.

Aplace

The sleek style and selection at Aplace is a pretty good summary of Swedish design in general. It’s cool and mainly minimalist and sensual and most of the important brands are represented, from Hope to Diana Orving.

Nelly.com ships to the Nordic countries, Germany and the Netherlands.

Nelly.com

The Nelly selection covers more bases than just Sweden, and only ships to the Nordic countries and Germany and the Netherlands, but plans for a European rollout is in the works.

There are other ways to shop as well, since many of the smaller and more interesting brands have their own e-shops. This is true of the ultrahip menswear brand Our Legacy, as well as fashion favourites Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair (both menswear and womenswear), last year’s Guldknappen winners Hope (men and women), avant-garde designers Nakkna (men and women), artsy but wearable Diana Orving, up and coming denim brand The Local Firm and of course Acne.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

June 3, 2011

30 years of Swedish Fashion

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Filippa K won the award in 1997 with this collection. Foto: Karin Smeds

For the last three years I have had the honour to sit on the jury for the most prestigious of Swedish fashion awards, the Guldknappen (Golden Button), which was instigated in 1981 by Damernas Värld (Ladies’ World), a Swedish fashion magazine for women.

This year is the 30th anniversary of the prize and no, I can’t tell you it goes to! But what I can tell you is that Nordiska Museet is holding an exhibition based on all the designers who’ve won the award over the years. You can see the list here, not exactly household names from an international perspective (although if you’re in the fashion business you might have heard of for example Jonny Johansson of Acne, Filippa Knutsson of Filippa K, Lars Nilsson who was head designer for Bill Blass and Nina Ricci, Ann-Sofie Back and perhaps Marcel Marongiu).

The interesting thing is that the award goes to a collection, not a designer life’s work, and therefore the collection represents Swedish fashion that particular year. Damernas Värld has been saving all of them for posterity, making Guldknappen a unique summary and survey of Swedish fashion and the times. In 2008 they were donated to Nordiska Museet where they form the basis for the exhibition..

Guldknappen 1981-2011 opens on June 10 and the idea is to try to show what it means to be a fashion designer beyond the glitz and the glamour. I’ve known many fashion designers who complain that the fashion world isn’t glamorous at all, so I guess this will please them.

Visitors will learn how fashion design is often a shoestring budget operation and hopefully this will earn designers some respect. After all, it’s even more impressing that they can create beauty without the means of an international luxury house at their disposal.

In August, this year’s winner will be announced together with the winner of the recently instigated Guldknappen for accessory design. See you at the party!

Daniel Björk - Fashion

May 26, 2011

Millennium style

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Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander. Photo: Yellow Bird

I’ve been wanting to say something about the Stieg Larsson trilogy and fashion, but I’ve been at a loss, because Lisbeth Salander’s gothic punk style doesn’t really feel very Swedish to me. Even if this style isn’t British anymore, but international, it feels wrong to claim it as ours.

But then I started to think about the fact that Lisbeth Salander in many ways is a very Swedish heroine. For one, she is a strong and independent woman, a feminist with a sexual fluidity. We do strong women in this country, but we do them in a certain style. Salander dresses in a unisex way, she’s boyish, both in body shape and style. She shuns feminine clothes unless she needs them as a disguise. She’s not glamorous, she’s gritty. She’s not girly, she likes boxing and riding motorcycles. Her clothing reflects this as she dresses in hoodies or tank tops.

Strong women are nothing new in Swedish film, the most obvious example being the movies of Ingmar Bergman, where confrontations between strong females were a recurring motif.

But all this ties in with a sense of style that is at the heart of Swedish fashion, an empowerment of women – not through sexual display, but rather through dignity and personal inner strength. I’ve mentioned before that Swedish clothes are seldom sexy in that Latin way. Instead we make clothes for clearly independent women – subjects, not objects.

This is why Lisbeth Salander, in all her social awkwardness and subcultural bent, is Swedish in her style. She reflects a need for a look that states independency and self-reliance that is very present in Swedish culture. She might do it in an over-the-top way, but that is the prerogative of fiction.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

May 24, 2011

Swedish fashion blogs rule!

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Carolina Engman of Fashion Squad. Photo by Carolina Engman.

Fashion blogs are becoming ever more powerful in Sweden, even though there seems to be some confusion about which blogs are actual fashion blogs, as opposed to lifestyle blogs by girls who just happen to like fashion.

Some of the bigger blogs are becoming powerhouse publications in their own right, employing people left right and centre, but I thought I’d give you basic list of whom to follow.

Agnes Braunerhielm
My collegue at Rodeo is one of few well-known fashion bloggers who doesn’t post pictures of herself. She writes long, dwindling posts on the intricacies of Rei Kawakubo’s design and her love for Alexander McQueen. This blog shouts out for Google translation.

Style by Kling
Maybe the only Swedish blogger who is making a name for herself internationally as well. Elin Kling has her own magazine, collaborated with H&M for the Swedish market and is featured in the latest issue of Industrie Magazine (which might not be too surprising seeing they are working together, but still, it’s a magazine which is read by, well, the industry).

Chloé Schuterman
Twelve-year-old Chloé Schuterman caused a furore a year ago when she appeared on TV with her mother Nathalie (who owns luxury fashion boutique Nathalie Schuterman) talking about her Balenciaga bag she got when she turned ten. A year later she is blogging about her fabulous life. She turns 13 in July.

Rebecca Simonsen
Rebecca Simonsen is a club promoter with a penchant for dramatic outfits. This makes her into a rare bird in sleek and minimal Sweden, but it is surely also the secret behind the success of her blog.

Fashion Squad
Fashion Squad by Carolina Engman is more of fashion shoot dressed up as a blog. Engman is a freelance stylist and models the clothes herself in professional looking pictures.

Stockholm Street Style
Many people are impressed with the way Swedish people dress, especially in Stockholm. If you don’t have the opportunity to get here, just check out the Stockholm Streetstyle blog to see the best dressed people of the capital.

An Editing Eye
I wanted to include An Editing Eye, because it represents an undergrowth of budding fashion journalists who are dismayed with the lack of critique and actual writing about fashion among the Swedish fashion bloggers. For a good look into how many fashion lovers feel, Google translate like crazy.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

May 19, 2011

Fashion as spectacle

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Josefin Arnell is one of the students showing her graduate collection tonight.

Tonight, if you happen to be in Stockholm, you can attend the graduation fashion show for Beckmans College of Design at Berns Hotel. Tickets are available to the public and can be bought at the door.

Public fashion shows is not a new trend in fashion. In the Eighties, fashion designers such as Thierry Mugler staged gigantic spectacles in stadiums, inviting thousands of people. Swedish designer Carin Wester’s S/S 2009 collection was shown in Berzelii Park outside the main show venue at Berns Hotel so that anyone interested could watch it and each season the Cheap Monday show is open to the public.

From what was essentially a way to show a fashion house’s clothes to the press and buyers, fashion shows have become more and more of a spectacle, a form of entertainment. Although the main idea of the fashion show still is to show the clothes, the show season is more of ritual, prompting some fashion critics, like New York Times’ Cathy Horyn to toy with the idea of reviewing the collections based on what’s in the showrooms at the so called re-sees.

Public fashion shows are now held everywhere, even in towns in northern Sweden, like Umeå Fashion Weekend, which showcases what’s in store in the town’s fashion boutiques, while brands like Tiger of Sweden show their current collection.

It is fascinating that there is such an interest in watching beautiful men and women walk to music on a catwalk, but I guess it beats some sad cover band playing on the town square. It is fashion as entertainment and performance, perhaps equal to watching those street entertainers who pretend to be statues. It is a day out with the family.

While there are some shows that work well as a performance or art installation, many others will come across as dull presentations of clothes. In the case of Beckmans though, I don’t think at will be the result. Fashion students tend to be a lot more radical in their ideas than most fashion companies. I wonder if people going to see the show will understand anything of the clothes, but maybe the point is just that; to show that fashion can often be strange, startling odd and radical. Not everything in fashion is about the body beautiful.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

May 16, 2011

What is Swedish anyway?

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A look from Gant's SS 2011 collection. This American brand used to be Swedish, but is now Swiss-owned.

What makes a Swedish fashion company? In a previous post I mentioned Eton Shirts, the Borås-based company with a distinctively British brand name that one of the founders took from an aristocratic boarding school in an era when such brands weren’t protected in the same way.

Gant, one of the most well known brands for preppy casualwear in the world, was for many years Swedish-owned, even though they continued to churn out their East Coast flavoured. As of 2008 they are in Swiss hands.

But there are other fashion brands which have an international presence without being overtly Swedish.

In 1999 Maria Erixon founded Nudie Jeans, after having worked at Lee Jeans. She took name for the label from Nudie Cohn – something which isn’t really part of the company communication anymore – “a Russian-born Jewish-American tailor, known for designing rhinestone-covered suits, known popularly as ‘Nudie Suits’”

WeSC, a Swedish streetwear company, employ WeActivists, mainly international graffiti and street culture personalities.

Wolsey, the world’s oldest brand according to the company (established 1755), have a less well known Swedish branch which is designing the Est. 1755 line for this quintessentially British company.

Nowadays, fashion is so globalised it is difficult to talk about national fashion. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t such a thing. Fashion is more than ever an international conversation between different aesthetics rooted in cultural design traditions.

Denim is a case in point. An American invention, it is these days shaped and amended to suit different audiences in different countries. Sometimes a style will only work on certain markets, other times, they will conquer the world, most of the time with a little help from our friends, the celebrities.

In the end there are two ways of looking at it: Gant may be Swedish or Swiss, but in essence it is still an American brand. And while Eton Shirts are based in Sweden, the shirt they make are decidedly international. This just means that a company or brand can have connections to different nations at the same time, and while some companies are born and raised in only one country, others are, just like us humans, of multiple cultural backgrounds.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

April 29, 2011

Fashion films from Sweden

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A still from Girl with Hyacinths (1950), directed by Hasse Ekman.

I had a brilliant idea. I thought: “I’m going to blog about Swedish fashion films!” Thus was my idea at least. And then I started thinking. And thinking. And thinking. I came up with precious few films that I could actually say were inspiring in a fashion sense.

There are many fantastic Swedish movies, and many of them have beautiful cinematography, but in order for a movie to be more than just beautiful and cross over into the realm of fashionable movies, it needs something more.

In the end, after hours of painstaking research (or rather, quite lovely research) I came up with this, highly personal list. It is not in any way a top list and I would love to hear from any reader who might have seen a Swedish movie with chic and flair.

So here goes.


I had to start off with Ingmar Bergman and my favourite of his films, Persona. Bibi Andersson takes care of Liv Ullman, a celebrated actress, after she has stopped talking. The two become more and more alike.


Next up is Elvira Madigan, by Bo Widerberg. The romantic, lacey looks are very much on trend at the moment, but really, you can’t go wrong with two such beautiful leads and stunning photo.


Roy Andersson’s A Swedish Love Story is just one of those movies where teenage love and lust is captured so lovingly that the visuals from the movie becomes emblematic. I’ve seen fashion stories here in Sweden based on this movie.


Evil was nominated for an Academy Award in the Foreign Language Film category in 2004, but what makes this movie classify as a fashion film is the outstanding beauty of Andreas Wilson, who was later shot for a Dior perfume ad made by David Lynch.

Lastly, I’ve added the feminist movie The Girls by Mai Zetterling from 1968 (I couldn’t embed it, but I’m sure you know how to click on a link), because I think that it captures a certain freedom and “burn the bra!” sentiment that was stirring in Sweden at that moment.

PS. Girl with Hyacinths, the opener of this post is of course also a very stylish movie. Check it out. It’s a little-known classic.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

April 27, 2011