Lakeside Store. Trunk Clothiers/Zurich

Mats Klingberg prefers items of timeless beauty, which is why his style is more classical than modern.

Trunk Clothiers/Zurich. With his Trunk stores in London, his shopin-shop concepts in three Lane Crawford department stores in Hong Kong, and his online shop, the Swede Mats Klingberg is setting new standards in the world of contemporary menswear. In May, he opened his latest store on the so-called “Gold Coast” of Lake Zurich, thus virtually picking up his target group at their house and office doors. Text: Kay Alexander Plonka. Photos: Trunk Clothiers LAKESIDE STORE

It’s quite amazing what a single store can do. Ever since the Swede Mats Klingberg opened Trunk Clothiers in London’s “Chiltern Street” in September 2010, many consider him to be the new godfather of menswear. Trunk Clothiers offers its customers modern classics of the highest quality from all over the world. The presentation and combination convey a skilfully restrained style and lightness. In addition to suits, coats, chinos, shirts, and shoes, the product range also includes fragrances, bags, and eyewear to match the respective looks. Trunk Clothiers now even boasts its own collection consisting of basics for all seasons. The target audience are men, aged between 35 and 55, who travel a lot, work in senior positions in global corporations, or run their own businesses - often in the creative industries. Klingberg didn’t earn his reputation by chance. He studied Fashion Merchandising Management at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, obtained a MSc in Business and Economics in Sweden, and worked for some of the world’s leading fashion tailors, as well as in Zurich’s hotel management industry.

THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE LAKE After 20 years of absence, he decided to return to the epicentre of the Swiss economic and financial world. “Zurich is a great city. Switzerland is a beautiful country with an abundance of nature and a very international population,” Klingberg says. The location of the new store, about halfway between “Seebad Utoquai” and the “Chinagarten”, is quite deliberately a little away from the large shopping and business areas. “This district is characterised by a slower pace and customers are thus in less of a hurry than elsewhere. The area is currently experiencing significant change. We are in excellent company. The new Monocle project is unfolding right next door. It will consist of a shop, a café, and a bar,” Klingberg explains. He works hard to maintain his reputation as a first-class buyer and curator. He and his team travel to the Pitti Uomo in Florence every season; he also visits the Capsule and the MAN in Paris. He sometimes also checks out other trade shows in cities such as New York, Berlin, or London. The selected brands have a special background story in common. New additions for the coming seasons include De Bonne Facture and Paraboots from France, Perfumer H Fragrances from the UK, Fujito from Japan, leather accessories by PB0110 from Germany, and Söder Seifen from Switzerland. “Quality, design, and materials are the decisive factors. But above all, the story and the people behind a company are much more important than the brand itself. Right now, De Bonne Facture is one of my favourites. Unlike others, they are very transparent about where their clothes are manufactured. They even state the companies that produced the fabrics on the labels.” Asked if he ever considered opening a store for women, Klingberg answers: “I think about it every day, mainly because I have been asked to do just that more often lately. But to be honest, we would need to add an entire additional department to our team. There are no such plans at the moment.”

Trunk Clothiers

Dufourstrasse 90 Zurich/Switzerland www.trunkclothiers.com Opening: May 2018 Owner: Mats Klingberg Store manager: Cedric Wessner Employees: 3 Sales area: 65 sqm Brands: Aspesi, Boglioli, Camoshita, Common Projects, Gitman, Incotex, Lardini, Ludwig Reiter, Paraboot, The Gigi, Trunk Clothiers, and many more…