Attainable "designer" fashion in Sweden: J.Lindeberg A/W 2012 (photo by Kristian Löveborg, courtesy of the ASFB)
Later this year, in May, I will have lived in Sweden for five whole years. In fashion terms, that’s ten seasons and so, nearly an eternity. Many a thing said in jest, as the saying goes, and though on one hand, I’m being flippant, on the other it does makes me wonder how this has affected my view of fashion and, to a lesser degree, my wardrobe. Read more » >>
Seebright, a jacket made of synthetic fibres, polyamide, Gore-Tex and then coated with a thermo-chromic and fluorescent material. At over 27 degrees it changes colour. Photo: Håkan Lindgren
What’s in store for Swedish fashion in the future? After all, we might have a successful high street and mid price sector, but what more?
It is sometimes claimed that innovation in fashion really comes from new research in textile production. One reason that Italy is still so successful as a fashion country is because of the expertise in creating incredibly sophisticated textiles that can be found in the country.
In Sweden, as with many countries, the manufacturing part of the fashion business came to a halt in the 1970s. There are still remnants of the industry, and logistical knowledge is still strong, but the bigger factories are gone.
This leads me to believe that the future of manufacturing is probably somewhere else, both geographically and technically.
Smart Textiles is a project based at The Swedish School of Textiles in Borås. It aims to connect companies and researchers in order to create the textiles of tomorrow.
Sweden has always been a country of innovators and risk-takers. From dynamite to the zipper, we just love to come up with new stuff (some of it more useful and peaceful than other things).
So let me introduce you to what Sweden seems to think is the next frontier in textiles (and now I am not talking about the knitted blood vessel). Glowing textiles, patterns that appear when you sit on them, materials that cool you down, a carpet that lights up when you step on it. All these textiles may not make it into clothes and are perhaps better suited for furniture design (and sometimes things like these can seem a bit gimmicky). But here is a real possibility for a happy marriage between Swedish fashion’s love of functionality and practicality and the Swedish innovative spirit.
At the moment it seems the companies working with Smart Textiles are not the major fashion companies in the country, but rather specialist, niche interests. If Acne, Tiger of Sweden, Cheap Monday and Hope sat down with the researchers, perhaps new and wonderful materials would be invented. It might be a high-heeled, sexy shoe that could be worn in slush. Another idea would be a knitted jumper that gets more warm as the temperature drops. All these are on my wish list (OK, perhaps not the high heeled shoes but I’m looking out for the ladeez). So, get working guys!
With this blog post I bid you good-bye, at least for this time. Thanks for reading!
… is an editor at Bon Magazine. Born and raised in Toronto, after stints in New York and London she moved to Stockholm in 2007. When not preoccupied with fashion, art and design, Sabrina is known to bake too many cakes and obsess over football and cricket.
…has been writing about fashion since the late 1990s. He’s the editorial director at Bon Magazine and writes a recurring column for Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet. He thinks the strength of Swedish fashion lies in it being accessible without becoming boring.