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Monthly archives: March 2011

A template for Swedish fashion

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A design by Rohdi Heintz. Photo: Ragnar Lindeblad

Swedish fashion is not comparable to the great powers of style, like Italy or France, but it’s not the case that Sweden didn’t have any successful fashion designers before Acne, Cheap Monday or J. Lindeberg.

If we want to, we could point out that the first couture house, House of Worth, was bankrolled by Otto Bobergh, a wealthy Swedish gentleman. However, he dissolved the partnership early on and he wasn’t a designer.

The first Swedish designer who had an international career was Katja Geiger, designing under the moniker Katja of Sweden. Her style was very Scandinavian, a sophisticated simplicity with influences from folk art and textiles. The career of Katja of Sweden was mainly an American affair, after a big article in the New York Times in the late Forties put her on the map and her style was a reaction to the Parisian ladylike stiffness, a fashion for women with jobs and family and an active lifestyle – a legacy that is still strong as of this day.

The Worth connection returned with Sighsten Herrgård, who in 1969 designed the first menswear collection for the brand, then based in London. A few years before that, in 1966, he had won the Courtauld International Design Competition with a unisex overall, a style which became a signature for him. However, his international career faltered when he decided he wanted out of a contract with a big management company and he relaunched himself as a PR guru and founder of the model agency Stockholmsgruppen.

Besides Katja of Sweden, the most successful Swedish designer was Rohdi Heintz. In the Sixties, as the young head designer for ready-to-wear company Wettergren (Rohdi Heintz by Wettergren was sold at Barneys, Henri Bendel and Saks Fifth Avenue, among others) and as a guest designer for Jaeger of London, Heintz carved out a presence on the international scene. In the Seventies Heintz launched his eponymous line and a decade later he became head designer for Björn Borg. His decision to use the underwear style of the Swedish armed forces as a design model is probably the reason for why today’s Björn Borg is mainly seen as an underwear brand.

Looking at these three examples together, they seem like a template for much of Swedish fashion design. The sophisticated simplicity of Katja of Sweden, the egalitarian thrust of Sighsten Herrgård and the utility inspiration of Rohdi Heintz (who of course did so much more than underwear, but for the sake of argumentation, I simplify). This to me, seems like the bedrock of Swedish fashion, an aesthetic tradition that is still seen in today’s fashion design.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

March 21, 2011

Old man style for young guys

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Three looks from Our Legacy SS 2011.

There was a time when Swedish men could be identified by the bad quality of their shoes. This has changed dramatically in the last 15 years or so – along with the increasing stylishness of the Swedish population.

But the last few years have been characterised by another development – the rise of the old man’s style.

Sweden might not be the only country in the world where this is so – fashion these days is rarely confined within national borders – but compared to many other countries, there seems to be a stronger tilt among the younger male generation towards the fashions of yesteryear.

A few years ago, it was the classic old, English gentleman who set the trend, with young guys adopting both cardigas and retro-framed glasses, bought at second hand store Herr Judit in Stockholm.

These days it’s more about what is internationally known as heritage fashion, a type of streetwear mimicking the styles of fishermen, factory workers, hunters, locomotive drivers or aircraft pilots.

In fact, one of Europe’s best shops of this type lies in Stockholm, the extremely researched Mr Mudd and Mr Gold. Exact replicas of old American army pea coats and sweaters fabricated on original 1920s vintage loop-wheeling looms fill the store.

Which brings us to Our Legacy, the Swedish brand that has a reputation internationally within this community. It began with T-shirts in 2005, but Our Legacy now sells in luxury departments stores such as Liberty in London as well as their own two stores in Stockholm.

It is also the only Swedish brand that has been featured in the Canadian bible for heritage fashion, Inventory Magazine.

Maybe this is the true Swedish men’s fashion look, sturdy and with a clear outdoorsy – yet urban – feel. Seems to sum up Sweden quite well, no?

Daniel Björk - Fashion

March 17, 2011

The great Swedish fashion blog debate

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The cover of Maria Soxbo's book about fashion blogs in Sweden.

In Sweden, the debate about young women who blog about fashion is seemingly endless. When I was preparing for this post I discovered that the recent outrage about “dangerous” beauty ideals had been copied – often with the exact same protagonists – from 2009.

It isn’t exactly true to say that the girls the debate focuses on (in 2009, Blondinbella, this time, Kissie) blog about fashion. They blog about their glamourous lifestyle, going to parties and premieres, doing lots of shopping, dieting, having plastic surgery.

The “real” fashion bloggers – people like Karolina Skande and Agnes Braunerhielm, Elin Kling, Sofi and Frida Fahrman (yes they are sisters) – have grown a bit tired of being put in the same category as the lifestyle bloggers just because they are all women.

In the recent leg of the debate, blog star Kissie, has been accused of promoting “sick” ideals, mainly because of her writing about her breast augmentation, lip surgery and dieting with baby food. To understand Kissie, you should know that her real name is Alexandra Nilsson and that Kissie is somewhat of a character whose intention it is to be provocative and shameless – that’s why the blog attracts around a million visits each week.

Kissie participated in the debate program Debatt on SVT and the aftermath followed the almost exact pattern with blogger and writer Alex Schulman criticising Blondinbella/Kissie, followed by women journalists and bloggers criticising Alex Schulman.

In these matters there always seems to be two points that people want to make. One side thinks these young glamourous bloggers are a problem. The other side might not sympathise with what they are saying but see it as important that young women and their interests are becoming part of the public discussion and arena.

Last year fashion journalist Maria Soxbo published the book Dagens outfit (Today’s oufit) about the phenomenon of fashion blogs. It is telling that she didn’t feature any male fashion blogger. This is a girl’s world.

In many ways this echoes a feeling in fashion in general. Women are no longer content in just being consumers of fashion, these days they want to be commentators and producers. They are taking charge and since they actually wear the clothes they have a certain advantage.

But there is also the sheer joy of actually talking about fashion, about showing what you bought to the world. We’re supposed to feel bad about our shopping habits for so many reasons. Now girls can talk about what they dream of, what they are actually wearing and what bargains they’ve just found. Why is that so provocative?

Daniel Björk - Fashion

March 16, 2011

Fashion as art

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Con vs Súra by Patrik Söderstam.

In the beginning of the 2000s there was a recurring discussion about fashion as art in Sweden. I always felt it was both a fascination with fashion coming from the art world, and a longing to be taken seriously that made many fashionistas go arty.

The culmination of the trend came in late 2004 when Moderna museet put on an exhibition called Fashination, blurring the lines between fashion and art and featuring designers such as Martin Margiela, Alexander McQueen and Viktor & Rolf, and artists such as Yinka Shonibare who showed a film especially commissioned for the exhibition.

I wrote a piece called ”Konsten klär upp sig” (Art dresses up) for Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter about a group of young artists who made clothing collections under the name Artist Clothing, a project who is still progressing with an exhibition as late as 2009.

These days few people are asking questions like ”Is fashion art?” but more and more of us have started to see that fashion is in many ways an artistic endeavour. But there are still a conversation going on between the two disciplines.

Ulrika Gunnarsdotter was the driving force behind Artist Clothing and as an artist she has continued to explore fashion and clothing. Recently she collaborated with costume designer Magdalena Klašnja, making new folk costumes for three Swedes with roots in former Yugoslavia.

Patrik Söderstam used to be a full time fashion designer (in the early 2000s he was hailed by international magazines like Arena Homme+ as a designer who was reinventing menswear), but he has since then taken his clothes more and more into the realm of art. Recently Söderstam has experimented with disturbing outfits and performances, showing how clothing not only can be used to make the wearer more sexy or beautiful, but also menacing or grotesque.

It is interesting to see that some of his design ideas in fashion – especially the body-altering padded calves – now crop up in his art. Check out his project Con vs Súra here.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

March 15, 2011

The couturiers of Sweden

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Two couture creations by Lars Wallin. Photo: Bo Brinkenfalk

In fashion, everyone knows that haute couture is based in Paris. The French have been sure to trademark that branch of fashion. Many people forget that Rome’s “alta moda” was also well-known and even though only the biggest of the couture ateliers live up to the rigorous demands of the Parisian Chambre syndicale de la haute couture, one should not forget that a 20th Century master such as Cristóbal Balenciaga was never a member of the organisation. Therefore, why couldn’t we find that rare art called haute couture even in the small country of Sweden?

Fare enough, no “house” in Sweden employs 15 workers full time and presents collections each seasons, consisting of at least 35 exits for both day and evening. But Sweden does have very talented couturiers nevertheless.

Perhaps the most famous of them abroad these days is Pär Engsheden (mysteriously without a web site, which in a way only makes him more exclusive), if only because he designed the wedding dress for crown princess Victoria last year. He has been a favourite of the royal family for some time with dresses of a clean, sharp and classic glamour.

In Sweden, I’d say that Lars Wallin is the more famous one, having been the go-to designer for Swedish red carpet stars (as well as the royals) and recently for the artists performing in the Swedish leg of the Eurovision Song Contest. His style is sexy, embellished and powerful, a kind of glamour he himself once described to me as “un-Swedish”.

There are other designers who are making couture-like design and who make one-off dresses (like Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair’s “By The No.” and Martin Bergström for example), but Engsheden and Wallin are the stars of the show and therefore merit special attention.

They also point to a side of couture that has been somewhat lost in the big business spectacles of Paris: the relationship between the couturier and client and the ultimate service and luxury it is to have a dress (or pair of trousers for that matter) made especially for you over several fittings.

Daniel Björk - Fashion

March 13, 2011