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Stylish Sweden: World-class design, fashion and innovation 8
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Swedish Press is the world’s leading magazine on all good things Swedish. An authority on design, business, culture and travel since 1929, Swedish Press delivers insightful news and commentary in a visually striking format. With a nod to the past, and a peek to the future, Swedish Press is your go-to source for updates and inspiration from Sweden. SWEDISH PRESS (ISSN 0839-2323) is published ten times per year (Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June, July/Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec/Jan) by Swedish Press Inc, 862 Peace Portal Drive, Suite #101, Blaine, WA 98230 for $35 per year. Periodical postage paid at Blaine, WA 98230-9998 (No. USPS 005544). US POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Swedish Press, Box 188, Blaine, WA 98231 OFFICE: 1950 Cypress Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6J 3L8 US MAILING ADDRESS: Box 188, Blaine, WA 98231 WEBSITE www.swedishpress.com E-MAIL info@swedishpress.com TEL +1 360 450 5858 TOLL FREE +1 866 882 0088 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Tatty Maclay tatty@swedishpress.com CO-EDITOR Anton Fredriksson anton@swedishpress.com ART DIRECTOR Joan Law Fredriksson joan@swedishpress.com
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CONTENTS ( October 2014 ) 4 Letters to the Editor 5 From the Editor’s Desk 6 7 8
Lifestyle 18 Top Sju 19 TV: Allt för Sverige
Swedish Headlines Headline News: Valrörelsen 2014 News at a Glance Swedes in the News
Business 7 Business News 9 Company File: H&M Feature 10 A case of Sweden fashion fever
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Hemma hos 20 Design: Award winning Swedish design 21 Treats à la Katri 22 Lär Dig Svenska 23 51% Swedish – an artistic document
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Bomber cotton shirt with leather and plastic gun flap and Antidote visors by Isabell Yalda Hellysaz
Interview 12 Bjørn Kjos – CEO Norwegian Air Heritage 15 Från Småland till Niew Amsterdam 16 Swedish roots, Oregon lives 17 Maclayhem
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In the Loop 24 Landskapsnyheterna 27 Canada, US & Beyond 28 Calendar and Events
Hand-coloured catalogue card from the Nordic Museum collection. Photo: Nordic Museum.
On the cover: Set design by Johan Svenson for Elle magazine, www.johansvenson.com. Photographer: Carl Bengtsson
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Letters to the Editor Dear Swedish Press, I look forward to receiving each issue of Swedish Press and don’t want to risk missing any. As the volunteer publicity writer for the Swedish American Museum in Chicago, I am grateful to Tatty, Joan and Claes for the generous space the magazine provides to us. The Swedish community in Chicago has a long history, and our Museum is dedicated to preserving it. Our ongoing exhibits and extensive archives contain memorabilia that has been donated by families of the people who made this area the center of opportunities for immigrants during the last two centuries. Swedish Press does a fine job of preserving an important culture. Sincerely, Stephen Anderson Chicago, Illinois Dear Swedish Press, On behalf of the Estes Park Midsummer Festival, we would like to thank you for your generous donation to our Silent Auction. We had a great Festival in Estes with good crowds and good weather. We appreciate your support, which allow us to continue promoting and preserving the Scandinavian Tradition and Culture in our area. It has turned into a regular Folk Festival with several thousand visitors over the two-day period. Many non-Scandinavians also show up out of curiosity, attracted by the lively music and colorful costumes. We do have such a great advantage since our fest is held in a downtown park and no admission is being charged. We trust that we can count on your continued support and hope that you will be able to visit us one year and see
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for yourself how your contribution is being put to work. Thank you so much for your donation. Sincerely, Lynn Anderson Silent Auction Chairperson Estes Park Midsummer Festival, Estes Park, Colorado Swedish Press & Tatty, Please renew my subscription. For more years than I remember I have been a subscriber and have always enjoyed the way I can keep up with the news. Both of my parents came from Sweden and I visit as often as I can. In fact I just returned a week ago and found my copy of “The” Press. I was talking with my one second cousin and told of your experience with the big, black birds. He said they could easily be Ravens. The word you were told means, birds of prey, and Ravens do come under the heading for some species. They can be very scary. Keep on with your good and interesting work for all of us subscribers. Nellie Hohnsen Saint Louis, Missouri Editor’s comment: Dear Nellie, Thanks so much for writing in – we’re so glad you enjoy Swedish Press. Re: the ‘rovfågel’, according to my neighbour it was probably a sparrow hawk or a buzzard! We also had a recent visit from a wolf, but he was more interested in sheep than hens…/TM Hi Joan, Thanks so much for the link! And, I look forward to my ongoing subscription. You are doing a great job! And, I also follow you on Twitter. All the best, Karmen Blackwood Vancouver, British Columbia
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From the Editor’s Desk
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Swedish Press October 2014
omething that has always struck me about Sweden is the care people take over little details, the pride they seem to have in their work and their environment. You can go into a petrol station cafe in the middle of nowhere and find hand-picked flowers in vases on each table, proper coffee and a spotless bathroom. It is this appreciation of the beauty in small things, the value put on the marriage of aesthetics and function that I think makes Sweden one of the world’s leading countries when it comes to fashion and design. There’s so much excellent Swedish design – functional, fashionable and a combination of both – that it’s hard to know where to start, but Kristi Robinson’s overview of the latest innovations to win major awards, both Swedish and international, provides an excellent entry point. And if, like me, you’re slightly out of the loop when it comes to what’s hot in the fashion world, Malin Dunfors’ report on the recent Stockholm Fashion Week and Swedish fashion in general, will help you sort your Acne from your Altewai Saome. At Swedish Press, we like to highlight Swedes – both living and long deceased – who have made an impact on the world stage. Both individuals and companies, one of the most successful of which is global fashion brand H&M, whose fortunes we chart in this issue’s Company File. Another Swede to make their mark in America was Jonas Bronck, the 17th century immigrant from Småland after whom the Bronx river and the New York district The Bronx, were named. In the run up to the Swedish elections, a man called Fredrik Marcus has been putting up posters all over Stockholm in the style of the Sweden Democrats campaign, with simple photographs of individuals and the message ‘Om (min mormor, far osv) stannat där, då hade jag inte funnits här’ (If my grandmother, father, whoever had stayed there, I wouldn’t be here). It seems more important than ever, in the seemingly increasing climate of immigrant hostility and racism, to bear in mind that we are almost all immigrants or the sons, or grand daughters, or great grand daughters of immigrants. Wishing you a peaceful fall,
Tatty Maclay Editor-in-Chief Tatty@Swedishpress.com
Swedish Press is now on Instagram! Follow Swedishpress for fun Swedish-related photos and news.
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Swedish Headlines Valrörelsen 2014 av Sthig Jonasson
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edan i början av året var tidningar och sociala medier fulla av uttalanden och spekulationer om ”supervalåret”. För första gången är det val till Europaparlamentet, riksdag, kommuner och landsting samma år. Dessutom skall det folkomröstas i lokala frågor, t.ex. i Göteborg där det gäller trängselavgifter. Dags- och veckotidningar liksom radio och TV fylldes av valmaterial och partiernas manifest. I media svämmar insändarsidorna sedan länge över av allmänhetens fria åkning, men även av experter av olika slag som uttalar sig om valets huvudfrågor och hur de olika partiernas strategier påverkar väljarna. När den rödgröna oppositionen (S, MP och V) hade ett formidabelt övertag gentemot Alliansen (M, KD, FP och C) i alla opinionsmätningar började en del rödgröna ledarskribenter och partiarbetare att hoppas på spel mot öppet mål i valet. Men alliansen knaprade in på försprånget. I den allt intensivare valrörelsen minskade gapet mellan blocken högst avsevärt. En vecka före valdagen var ställningen 168 mandat för de rödgröna och 141 mandat för Alliansen med 40 mandat för Sverigedemokraterna, som inget av blocken vill ha att göra med. Enligt den prognosen skulle alltså Jimmie Åkesson få en obehaglig vågmästar-ställning med politiskt kaos och ganska säkert ett snart nyval. Men allsköns opinionsundersökningar ersätter inte resultatet på valdagen. Partierna brukar i god tid leverera sina valmanifest där väljarna mer klart får reda på vad man går till val på. Men i år dröjde det ända in i slutspurten
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Stefan Löfven. Foto: Mattias Vepsä
innan Alliansen och de rödgröna berättade vad som väntade om de vann ett ”chicken race” där blocken väntade ut varandra. Socialdemokraterna lovar reformer för 40 miljarder kronor i sitt valmanifest som går under namnet “Kära framtid”. S skall bl.a. satsa på höjda lärarlöner och läxhjälp till alla som behöver det och utlovar lägre skatter till pensionärer. ”Det är en rättvisefråga att lön och pension ska beskattas lika.” Vänsterpartiet kör hårt med sin slogan ”välfärden är inte till salu” och har gått så långt att valaffischerna med partiledaren Jonas Sjöstedt har den tvetydiga texten ”Inte till salu”. Alliansens manifest domineras av en vilja att förbättra företagsklimatet, med bl.a. sänkta kostnader och förenklat regelverket för företagare. Att rätt ovidkommande företeelse som misstag eller rena korrekturfel blandas in i valrörelsen är ofrånkomligt i år som alla andra valår. Skolan är Folkpartiets viktigaste fråga men ibland går det på tok också med de vällovligaste avsikter. I skånska Landskrona och Svalöv hade FP en lokal-
tidningsannons som fick twittrare att spinna loss i rena glädjefnatten. I annonsen stod att Folkpartiet vill ha en “kunskapskola”. Ett ”s” för litet som fick en att utbrista att hen skulle ”baka riktigt mycket kunskapskola”. Apropå nerspelade ämnen i valdebatten. Dit hör också försvarsfrågan. MP-språkröret Åsa Romson menade i ett uttalande att försvaret skall vara till för att försvara oss mot ”cyberattacker, ökad antibiotikaresistens, klimatförfändringar och översvämningar”. Någon tyckte kanske att det inte skulle skada att ha ett försvar också mot attackflygplan och stridsvagnar. Det finns gott om bisarra, för att inte säga förvirrade, inslag i valkampen. Dit hör onekligen den obetydlige lokalpolitiker från Eda kommun som fick sin kvart i rampljuset när han ansåg att fotbollsstjärnan och nationalidolen Zlatan Ibrahimovic ”borde skjutas och grävas ner”. På vilket sätt det har med valrörelsen att göra är dock oklart. STOP PRESS The results of the 2014 election are in. Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven will take over from Fredrik Reinfeldt as Sweden’s new prime minister and is expected to form a left-leaning coalition government. The far-right Sweden Democrats became the country’s third largest party, with around 13 percent of the votes.
Riksdagsval Sverige Senast uppdaterad den 15 september 2014 kl. 02:15
Så här fördelas mandaten mellan partierna
Valdeltagande: 83,3% Antal röster: 6 108 392 Antal ogilitiga röster: 68 875 Räknade distrikt: 5 837 av 5 837
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News at a Glance Swedes in fight against Ebola
Terror plots prevented
Swedish experts have headed to Liberia at the request of the WHO to help plan a tented camp for medical personnel working with Ebola patients. Liberia is the West African country hardest hit by the ongoing Ebola outbreak, with 700 deaths so far. A suspected Ebola case in Stockholm, a young man who had travelled in an Ebola-hit African country, was recently ruled out.
Two planned terror plots by Islamist militants have been prevented by The Swedish Security Service (Säpo), the organisation recently revealed. In an interview with Aftonbladet newspaper, Säpo’s Chief Operating Officer Anders Kassman said that the intended attacks were due to be carried out within Sweden but gave no further details. Sweden’s last terrorist attack was in 2010, when a suicide bomber blew himself up in central Stockholm. Southern Sweden underwater
Photo: Sven Hoppe/EPA
Torrential rain in Skåne caused massive flooding at the end of August, leaving hundreds of houses flooded and without power and roads blocked. Malmö received 20 millimetres of
Electrolux joins forces with GE
Government ups defence spending Sweden has announced plans to spend an extra 1.3 billion kronor on defence resources as Russia increases their activity in the Baltic region. The new amount, which is in addition to the three billion kronor already promised by the Alliance in their election manifesto, is intended to give the military an increased presence in the Baltic Sea area, where growing number of Russian ships and planes have been seen.
[Business] News
Sweden’s Electrolux AB is purchasing General Electric’s appliances business in a deal valued at $3.3 billion. Although still subject to US regulatory approval, the acquisition would double Electrolux’s annual sales in North America to close to $10 billion. Electrolux, which is the world’s second-largest appliance maker after Whirlpool, will add GE Monogram, GE Cafe and Hotpoint
Keith McLoughlin, President & CEO of AB Electrolux. Photo © Electrolux
rain in under an hour and emergency services were called in to evacuate buses. Other parts of the country, including Värmland and Halland, were also hit by extreme weather and flooding in late summer.
brands to its existing line of brands, which includes AEG, Zanussi and Frigidaire. In addition, the deal includes a 48.4% stake in Mexican appliance maker, Mabe, which further opens up the Latin American market for Electrolux. This is the largest deal in the history of the Swedish company, which began producing vacuum cleaners in 1910. Microsoft expected to acquire Mojang Microsoft is widely expected to announce the purchase of Swedish game developer Mojang, creator of the Minecraft video game, to the tune of $2.5 billion. The hugely successful game was developed by Markus “Notch” Persson as a side-project four years ago and has now sold over 54 million copies. The game takes the form of an open virtual world, where players
have free reign to build structures out of blocks in multiple game modes. The impending deal is being interpreted as a way for Microsoft to expand its Windows Phone and Xbox platforms by tapping into a large audience of younger gamers. Mojang recently collaborated with UN Habitat on the “Block by Block Project” which uses the Minecraft platform to help younger citizens in developing countries participate in the design process of their communities.
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[Swedes] in the News Falkengren receives Trade Award Annika Falkengren, President and CEO of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) is to receive the Lucia Trade Award 2014 from The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in New York at a gala dinner on December 1st. Falkengren has been SEB’s CEO since 2005 and has been named as one of the ‘Top 10 Most Powerful Women Globally’ in Fortune
Spotify founders win award
Founders Martin Lorentzon (left) and Daniel Ek (right). Photo: Spotify
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the area. Kamprad, 87, who has an estimated fortune of 4.1 billion dollars, moved back to Sweden this year after forty years abroad. The donation is a huge amount for a town with only a few hundred inhabitants and Bengt Nilsson, chairman of the local board, told Smålandsposten: ‘This gives us a whole new range of possibilities to develop Agunnaryd.’
Victoria Tocca’s US success
artin Lorentzon and Daniel Ek, founders of the music streaming site Spotify, were recently presented with the award for International Swede of the Year (Årets svensk i världen) by Crown Princess Victoria at a ceremony at Stockholm’s Grand Hotel. The Society for Expatriate Swedes, who made the choice, said the Swedes earned the award for their work in making the world’s music accessible to the world.
Magazine. Each year, the Chamber of Commerce presents the award to a person who has significantly contributed to fostering free trade between Sweden and the US.
Three Swedes cross Madagascar on foot Nicklas Lautakoski, Alexander Gustafsson and Elias Sjöberg recently completed a 30-day expedition crossing Madagascar on foot on behalf of the WWF. The gruelling expedition, during which the Swedes covered 510km, was intended to highlight the rapidly vanishing area of rainforest on the island. The team
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encountered lemurs, snakes and the mysterious native cat, the fossa, as well as climbing Magagascar’s highest mountain, Maromokotro. The team’s fourth member, Albin Isaksson, did not complete the expedition due to health problems.
Kamprad donates to hometown Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad recently donated 53 million kronor (7.7 million dollars) to his hometown Agunnaryd, to be used for rural development and to improve long-term living and working facilities in
Swedish singer/songwriter Viktoria Tocca’s new single “We’re Still Young”, from her latest album, recently debuted at number 10 on the Billboard hot singles sales chart. Tocca has performed all over the world, in numerous TV shows, many big musicals and on several compilation records. Her debut album “Se mig”, in Swedish, was released in 2006. Her second album “All I Am”, this time in English, released in 2011 included the hit song Dark Waltz that also won a prize for “Best Classical” at the 2011 Hollywood Music in Media Awards.
Company File Swedish fashion with a conscience By Monika Nordqvist Their first store was opened in Västerås in 1947 and since then H&M has established itself as an international retail giant with over 3,000 stores in 54 countries. From its modest beginnings, H&M has grown into a global fashion empire that offers fast fashion with a conscience.
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he founder of H&M, Erling Persson, was born in 1917 in the town of Västerås in central Sweden. Erling was the son of a butcher shop owner, and he was expected to take over the family business. However, Erling had other plans and at the age of 21, he moved to Stockholm where he set up a shop selling pens with his good friend Björn Wennberg. Having successfully established his first business, the new entrepreneur decided to travel to America, where he in 1946 found the inspiration for a new business idea, which would be the beginning of H&M. During his trip to America, Erling saw that there was a demand for affordable fashion at low prices, and believing that his business idea
would also work in Sweden, he opened up his first clothes shop in his home town in 1947. Naming it “Hennes”, meaning “hers” in english, the shop sold womenswear at considerably lower prices than its competitors. The business became a huge success, with a number of shops soon opening up all over Sweden. The first shop outside Sweden opened in Norway in 1964, and in 1968, the company expanded into menswear, when Hennes bought the hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss. The company name was subsequently changed to Hennes & Mauritz in order to include both the womenswear and menswear brands. The current name H&M is therefore an abbreviation of Hennes & Mauritz. Since their modest beginnings, H&M has grown into a successful global retail chain which employs around 80,000 people in 54 countries. The company has been listed on the Swedish Stock Exchange since 1974, although the Persson family remain the main shareholders with ownership of 70 per cent of the shares. Erling Persson’s grandson Karl-Johan is now the company’s CEO, and Erling’s son Stefan is Chairman of the Board. The company has expanded and now own a number of their own
[H&M] brand and other successful clothing retailers, including & Other Stories, COS, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday. In 2011, H&M was identified as one of fifteen clothing retailers responsible for letting out toxic waste during the manufacturing process in the Greenpeace report “Dirty Laundry”. Since then, the company has agreed to phase out all dangerous chemicals from their production by the year 2020. H&M has also introduced a global clothing collection initiative. Customers can hand in any unwanted clothes at H&M stores and the company will recycle the old garments. To complement their sustainability work, the company set up the H&M Conscious Foundation, an independent organisation working to drive positive change for people and communities. The current focus areas for their work are education, clean water and empowering women and in 2013, the Stefan Persson family donated SEK 500 million to the Foundation. The company states that it does not only want to offer fashion and quality at the best price, but that it wants to be a more sustainable choice; Swedish fashion with a conscience.
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A case of
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he New York Times dubbed her, “The Not It Girl.” In their recent fall women’s fashion issue, the paper featured Emily Sundblad, the 37-yearold Dalsjöfors native, painter and performer who is reviving the art scene of downtown New York. The lead? A description of Sundblad’s tuxedo, with “a single silver owl head pinned to each lapel.” It seems that, in one way or another, Swedish fashion is always in vogue.
Que Barbaro by Emily Sundblad
New York Fashion Week, in mid-September, begins the highly anticipated Spring/Summer 2015
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Swedish fashion fever By Malin Dunfors
Skjorta by Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair. Photo © Benjamin Vnuk
season, followed by shows in London, Milan and Paris. The Scandinavian fashion weeks tend to start a bit earlier, with Fashion Week Stockholm SS15 held at the end of August. But even prior to the festivities, fashion fever had taken over the capital, largely due to the critically acclaimed exhibition, Swedish Fashion: 2000-2015. The exhibit, which ran during the summer at Sven-Harrys konstmuseum in Vasastan, explored the forces that helped shape Swedish fashion during the first fifteen years of the 21st century. Around the millennium shift, the fashion scene exploded with creativity, which
saw the rise of not only several new brands but also a newfound sense of success, at home and abroad. The media often describes the global breakthrough of Swedish fashion as the “Swedish fashion miracle” (“det svenska modeundret”). The term was coined during the nineties, when Swedish fashion became synonymous with skinny jeans, minimalism and a great sense of aesthetics, thanks to brands such as Filippa K, J. Lindeberg, Acne (Ambition to Create Novel Expression) and Nudie Jeans. The label has stuck, although many fashion designers disapprove, arguing that it oversimplifies the hard
Filippa K Fall/Winter 2014.Photo© Filippa K
Wool and patent leather short jacket by Isabell Yalda Hellysaz. Photo © Isabell Yalda Hellysaz
work that goes into international success. Regardless of what you call it, the Swedish fashion industry is still growing strong. In 2012, total sales were SEK 229 billion, according to a report released in January by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket) in collaboration with 15 Swedish textile, fashion and sportswear organizations. The report, “Modebranschen i Sverige – statistik och analys 2014,” also found that total sales increased by 11 per cent compared to 2011. Export accounted for 60 per cent, or SEK 138 billion. What’s behind the continued success of Swedish fashion abroad? Except for a winning concept, the secret may lie in the fact that Swedish designers are very good at building a brand and developing a team the supports the brand, explains Helena Mellström, Marketing Manager at the Swedish Fashion Council (Svenska Moderådet). “For instance, if you look at Odd Molly, it was started by Per Holknekt, who’s an old skater with no design background. But then he met the designer Karin JimfeltGhatan, who could translate his ideas,” Mellström says. Mellström leads the work on the nonprofit
project Swedish Fashion Talents, formerly called Rookies, which is part of the council’s efforts to promote Swedish design talent. Every year, the council presents one promising up-and-coming designer with the award, “Swedish Fashion Talent of the Year.” This year’s winner, Castor Pollux, received the prize during the fashion week for his: “… collection that challenges traditional perceptions about what things can and should look like.” The idea of challenging the status quo tied in well with the overall theme of community involvement. The Swedish Minister for Gender Equality, Maria Arnholm, discussed the idea of social engagement when she officially opened the fashion week. In the line-up were big, established brands such as Whyred and Cheap Monday (celebrating its tenth anniversary), along with jewelry designers, including Maria Nilsdotter, and graduating students from the Swedish School of Textiles (Borås Textilhögskola). Yet, the season’s most talked about show came from none other than Björn Borg. The show portrayed a love story with models dressed up as virtual characters in a video game. For the international fashion press, in particular American
Ann-Sofie Back Fall/Winter 2014. Photo © Kristian Löveborg/ASFB
Vogue, there were three brands that stood out: AltewaiSaome, BACK and House of Dagmar. Natalia Altewai and Randa Saome founded the Malmö-based label five years ago, which became the darling of the fashion week with its focus on strong women. BACK by Ann-Sofie is the creation of design veteran Ann-Sofie Back, who has repeatedly received international recognition for her unconventional approach
“First Person Lover” avatars on runway in Björn Borg Show @Fashion Week Stockholm Photo © Björn Borg
to fashion. Also growing a global following, thanks to its sensual, high-tech knitwear, is House of Dagmar, the brainchild of three sisters from Gothenburg – Kristina Tjäder, Karin Söderlind and Sofia Malm. For those fashionistas who wanted a glimpse into the future of Swedish design, Bibliotekstan hosted a pop-up store devoted to new designers for the entire week. The store featured collections by Isabell Yalda Hellysaz, whose creations has been worn by Lady Gaga; Anders Hall and many others. For the rest of us who missed fashion week, there is still hope. Parts of the Swedish Fashion: 20002015 exhibit will be on display at the Swedish Institute in Paris, from September 24-October 9.
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