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Whether you know it or not, you’ve seen the Toteme scarf jacket. A draped, wool-blend coat distinguished by its blanket-stitch border and matching fringed scarf, the oversized jacket has been on the market since November 2021. While it easily found buyers in the brand’s native Stockholm, the coat has since earned a legion of fans worldwide.
Toteme has been on the come up over the last few years, especially among fans of stealth-wealth and capsule dressing, thanks to its philosophy of a somewhat trend-defying uniform backed up by craftsmanship and high-quality materials. The jacket first got its foothold in the fashion community in 2022, when it began popping up around Europe. Thanks to its unique contrast stitching and homey quality, it stood out from a sea of indistinguishable trenches and dusters. Now, aided by social media hype and aptly timed restocking, the Toteme scarf jacket is reaching fans from Berlin to New York, just in time for winter.
TikTok is a major player in the coat’s hype. Search “Toteme scarf jacket” on the app, and you’ll be served loads of videos that position the coat as a gateway to an aspirational lifestyle full of days getting lost in the Louvre, flaneuring through New York City (or maybe just SoHo), and galavanting around London, bouquet of flowers in hand. (The hashtag #TotemeScarfJacket currently boasts nearly 16 million views, and #Toteme has 34 million.) Last November one TikToker, @expensivb1tch, posted a video captioned, “pov you are wearing THAT coat in paris.” Despite the fact that she was also wearing Loro Piana loafers and carrying a Birkin, it was the jacket that took center stage.
Ana Escalante, an assistant editor at Who What Wear, had long coveted the coat before buying the dark gray mélange version on a recent trip to Stockholm. “As a plus-size shopper, honestly, I do want to look like everyone else,” she says. “There’s this beauty that exists in seeing something online, not thinking it’ll work for me or my body, and then going in and realizing it actually does. I wanted the Toteme coat for so long, thinking it wouldn’t be a possibility.” Toteme offers up to a size 42, the equivalent of a US 12—and a 44 (a US 14) in the chocolate colorway. But Escalante, who usually wears between sizes 16 and 20, bought it in a size 42 (the equivalent of a US 12), meaning that the coat should be able to fit a slightly wider size range.
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Like all trendy pieces, the Toteme jacket has its dupes. A host of replicas are already on the market, retailing for under $100, sometimes even as low as $35—a fraction of the original $1,130 price tag. The brazen knockoffs, in addition to the coat’s ubiquity, are a turnoff to some. Chloe Baffert, head of merchandising at Poshmark, even took to TikTok to discourage people from buying it. “Now we’ve officially trickled to the masses,” she said in her video. “It’s gonna be oversaturated really quick, so—hot take—do not buy this coat.”
For Vogue senior shopping editor Talia Abbas, the Toteme jacket’s growing profile has made her become disenchanted with it. “I bought the all-black Toteme last fall, and I thought it would have more longevity in my wardrobe because the overstitching isn’t so obvious like with the others,” she says. “It also might just be that when things get super hype, and I feel like everyone has the real and the dupes, it just loses its luster.” She describes the experience as “like a breakup.”
But Escalante doesn’t care about the trendiness of it all. As a plus-size consumer, she notes that she is very intentional with her purchases, only buying pieces she knows will last in her wardrobe. “I don’t buy things simply because they fit or because they’re trendy but rather knowing that it’s something I’ll love and enjoy and wear over and over again, especially when there aren’t many stylish options traditionally afforded to me.”
The growing interest in charm necklaces, monogramming, and rare archival pieces shows that shoppers prize individuality and singularity. At the time of its launch, the Toteme coat looked like nothing else on the market and also possessed a charming, homemade quality that made it look bespoke. That, coupled with its luxury price tag, created some insurance that it would remain a status piece. (Ironically, it’s that same uniqueness that made it such a target for dupes, contributing to its risk for oversaturation.) That said, Toteme’s scarf jacket underscores the best parts of Scandi style: It’s comfortable, effortless, and playful, and its neutral color palette allows it to mesh into any wardrobe.
Shop the status scarf jackets, below.
