Stockholm Fashion Week returned on 2 June for a three-day run that followed a six-year pause, spotlighting the new generation of Swedish designers who are redefining Scandi design.
The Swedish capital was alive with energy throughout the week as students celebrated their graduations, luxury lovers visited Cartier’s new high jewellery exhibition and locals soaked up some early summer sun ahead of the long weekend celebrating the National Day of Sweden. The fashion week schedule itself was relatively lean, with 12 shows, three presentations and a handful of panel talks and drink events. The timing of the week meant that brands showed a mixture of seasons: Autumn/Winter 2025, pre-spring 2026 and SS26. Around 30 international guests attended, with press and buyers flying in from the UK, the US, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, France, Norway and the Netherlands, among others.
Stockholm Fashion Week hit the headlines in 2019 when the Swedish Fashion Council (SFC) announced it was cancelling the event, citing sustainability concerns. Over the past few years, SFC has focused instead on its incubation platform, Fashion X. Meanwhile, member-owned trade organisation Association of Swedish Fashion Brands (ASFB), which claims to have set up Stockholm Fashion Week in 2005 — though the SFC contests this — says it was cancelled primarily for financial reasons. ASFB trialled a fresh hybrid format for fashion week in 2022, amid pandemic restrictions, but this was discontinued after one season.
The relaunch — which has been in the making since the 2022 edition — has been orchestrated by ASFB under the leadership of director John-Jamal Gille, a former writer, creative director and photographer. The major difference is that Stockholm Fashion Week now has government funding, which could be a game changer for bumping the event onto the global fashion map.
Scandi fashion has already made a name for itself thanks to Copenhagen Fashion Week, which has become popular for its quirky, contemporary and commercially oriented brands with a focus on sustainability. However, Stockholm fashion locals speaking to Vogue Business insist that their home town is the centre of Scandi luxury, pointing out that Sweden is a bigger economy and has the largest number of fashion exports in Scandinavia.
Here are the key takeaways from Stockholm Fashion Week’s relaunch.
Bigger names are keeping a watching brief
Sweden has birthed brands including Acne Studios, Toteme, Axel Arigato, Our Legacy, H&M, Tiger of Sweden, Avavav, Hodakova, Filippa K, Nudie Jeans, Swedish Stockings — the list goes on. However, while Swedish Stockings hosted a lunch during this edition of fashion week, none of these big names held on-schedule shows or presentations. (Though some had input into how the event was organised, as members of the ASFB.) Instead, the schedule featured a mix of mid-sized labels like Studio Constance and Deadwood, buzzy newcomers and underground subcultural labels.
“They really held our hand along the way,” says Mayssa Fakih, co-founder of one-year-old brand Mayz, whose show received positive response from attendees. “It’s exciting to see emerging brands like ourselves on the schedule, because when you’re fresh in the game, your creativity is also fresh.” International guests were particularly impressed by the student collections from Beckmans College of Design and Borås School of Textiles, which were presented in a showroom hosted at church-turned-event-space Eric Ericsonhallen.
The challenge is to strike a balance between supporting a wide variety of brands (including underground labels) and maintaining the quality of the schedule — all while ensuring the governing from the ASFB doesn’t become too top-down. Gille is passionate about ensuring underground labels have a space on the schedule, but acknowledges the challenges. “Of course, there’s a risk. We make sure that we know the brands will be able to produce great shows and that we ask, very frankly, how many looks they’ll be able to make and what their target audience is. You get a feeling for their understanding of their own business, and if we feel they know what they’re doing, we welcome them to the schedule,” says Gille.
Roping big brands into showing on a local schedule is a familiar struggle that smaller fashion weeks face. International guests in attendance suggested bigger brands could host re-sees of their collections that they had shown in Paris, or host a dinner event to draw attention to their home town without shifting entirely to show in Stockholm. Gille says he hopes to see more on-schedule activations from big brands in the future.
Government buy-in is important
Securing government support has been a top priority for Gille. He explains that he used to be employed as a creative consultant at a bureau that worked with a lot of public-sector clients. “That job taught me how to work with the public sector and what their needs and priorities are and how these relationships work,” he says. “When the government understands what impact fashion can have on the image of a country, on international reputation and trade, it’s a no-brainer to support it.”
“Our creative companies are not only powerful exporters, they are also important bearers and ambassadors of Swedish ideas, knowledge and culture,” Swedish Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa said in a speech, shortly before newcomer Leoní’s presentation, which was hosted at art auction house Bukowskis. “Hopefully, [this spotlight] could also lead to new investments in the fashion industry. Fashion opens doors for business and tourism with new collaborations, and that’s exactly what Sweden needs more of.”
In recent years, critics have questioned the role of the fashion show in benefitting brands commercially, however, and argued that investing in mentorship or grants may be a more effective way of stimulating trade. Gille says ASFB’s improved relationships with the government may open doors for trade beyond just fashion week. “Previously, the fashion week has taken up most of the time during the year for ASFB, but with our mission towards the government, we’re able to facilitate connections between politicians and brands,” he says.
ASFB declined to share how much the government has invested in Stockholm Fashion Week, and noted that the funding is for this edition only at the moment.
The funding doesn’t cover the full cheque, Gille says. “Right now, it’s pretty scrappy. Agencies, property owners, talent — everyone has really come together to make this happen and some people agreed to lower rates in the spirit of collaboration, with the understanding that there will be better capabilities next time,” says Gille. ASFB also has the opportunity to add local corporate sponsors: Stockholm-born Spotify was one of the sponsors this season, but there could be avenues with companies such as H&M, Volvo and Ikea, looking ahead.
Industry veterans launching emerging brands
Many of the emerging brands on the schedule have been set up by designers who began their careers at Acne Studios, H&M or Axel Arigato, among other large, Swedish brands. Swedish fashion insiders say this is the common route for local talent. Many of the brands are also set up by a duo or trio of founders, allowing them to combine their skills across design and business.
For example, two-year-old brand Past Tense was founded by Victor Lindh, a former designer at Neil Barrett, Axel Arigato and Norse Projects, alongside Adrien Forray, who held operational roles at LVMH, Kering, Axel Arigato and Norse, among others. Buzzy fledgling brand Leoní was founded by Beckmans graduate Filippa Fuxe and Nathalie Schuterman, a prominent figure in Swedish fashion whose eponymous boutique offered an inroad for luxury brands into the Swedish market. Likewise, Adnym Atelier was founded by industry veterans including Stefan Söderberg, who developed Acne Studios’s denim line in the early noughties, Frippe Persson who held leadership roles at Wandler, and Johni Tadi who held roles at Levi’s.
“When you start your own brand [in Sweden], a majority have some experience from before. You need some time to filter what you actually want to do and understand the industry — you really need to understand the whole cycle,” says Persson.
Scandi design isn’t what you think
Stockholm is best known for clean minimalistic designs. The challenge for brands presenting collections is to stand out and gain attention from buyers — particularly when certain design codes are reminiscent of bigger brands like Acne Studios or Our Legacy.
Brands on-schedule say they’re hoping to differentiate themselves. “We’re not really looking to be a minimalist Scandinavian brand, we’re looking to create high-quality luxury products,” says Rebecca Dovenryd-Almberg, founder of five-year-old label Studio Constance, one of the larger names on the schedule. The collection (which is produced in Italy and Portugal) featured leather in warm cognac, lightweight knits and jackets with shearling trims. The styling was particularly strong, with cable knits tied over each other, collars buttoned to the top and sheer garments layered over one another.
“It’s about finding the small things,” adds Adnym’s Persson, pointing to the flared sleeve of a blazer or the frayed hem of a skirt. The brand’s presentation featured cool, slouchy unisex tailoring, worn by models who were standing on podiums and sipping red wine.
Designers highlight that there’s more to Stockholm fashion than minimalism. “It’s a misconception that everything is boring here,” says Imaskopi founder Nelly Skog, who presented a collection of dark-tone knitwear, stretched over and hanging off the frame of the body. The show was set to a soundtrack of live double bass and saxophone. The designer is inspired by Nordic handicraft history and produces everything in Sweden with her mother.
“[For Stockholm Fashion Week to scale], there needs to be a lot of different cultures and communities showing,” says Dustin Glickman, creative director of Seams, an underground jewellery brand founded in 2018, which recently launched ready-to-wear. “I think Sweden’s ready to move beyond just minimalism.”
This article has been updated to reflect the diverging perspectives of the Swedish Fashion Council and Association of Swedish Fashion Brands regarding the launch and closure of Stockholm Fashion Week. (23/6/25)
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