Stockholm Fashion Week Makes a Triumphant Return

When Stockholm Fashion Week was canceled in 2019, the Swedish Fashion Council named sustainability as the reason for shutting down, citing overproduction and overconsumption, the saturation of global fashion show schedules, and the industry’s massive environmental impact as grounds for why the event just didn’t make sense in the Swedish capital anymore. “It has been a platform that has been languishing and lacking direction,” explained John-Jamal Gille, the director of the Association of Swedish Fashion Brands and unofficial face of the new Stockholm Fashion Week.

Now, Stockholm Fashion Week is back with the help of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. It returned the first week in June with a vision focused on long-term relationship development. The week also offered a new representation of what Swedish design can be. Minimalism and sustainability were core components as expected—but many designers questioned what these qualities truly mean, while offering broader perspectives on Scandinavian fashion identity.

For several designers and founders of emerging brands, this began with representation. “I was born in Ethiopia and adopted to Sweden, so everything started because I felt like we had no representation in the fashion industry,” said Jimmie Temesgen Sandberg, the founder of unisex ready-to-wear Temesgen, backstage after his packed-to-the-brim show, which closed STHLMFW. “I wanted to share something about the diaspora but also the Swedish side of me—to show the diaspora in a more minimalistic way.”

This meant clean, tailored silhouettes printed with the Amharic words for ’equal’ and ’whole.’ Fabrics were deadstock and production was done entirely in Sweden. The color palette was khakis, black, and deep, elegant browns throughout. “It’s just a celebration for homecoming,” shared Temesgen Sandberg, with his head of design, Cordelia Obrien, adding, “This homecoming is from Ethiopia but also Stockholm for the diaspora. Therefore, the minimalism is Scandinavian, from Sweden, with the Ethiopian soul. It’s a homecoming in both ways.”

The designers behind the LA-meets-Stockholm line Mayz also spoke of fresh perspectives. “Vibrancy was the focus in this collection,” said Swedish designer Kevin Mukuri, one half of the 2024-founded line. Along with Los Angeles-born artist Mayssa Fakih, Mukuri looked to his Cameronian roots in an offering filled with futuristic, geometric prints; seventies-, eighties-, and nineties-style influences; and bright, eye-catching colors full of optimism. “Scandinavian minimalism is always in [my collections] through the shapes, and there are also my roots in West Africa,” said Mukuri.

He spoke of a deeper view of sustainability. “It’s not only about [what’s] in the products. It’s also the way we think,” he said after the show. “So, for me, diversity is one of them. The way we present ourselves.”

Rebecca Dovenryd Almberg’s debut show for her circular line Studio Constance was a highlight of the week that deeply considered sustainability. The Swedish designer worked at Proenza Schouler, Acne Studios, and Toteme before developing her own beautifully crafted, cerebral line. (Think a Swedish Phoebe Philo, full of lush, artful garments such as an enveloping reversible shearling coat and a near-sheer cobalt blue knit dress that read equal parts thoughtful and subtly sexy.)

Most brands begin with a design choice, then try to find ways to make it more sustainable, she explained. “We work within [the most sustainable recourse],” she said. “The most sustainable option would be, ‘don’t make another fashion brand because we don’t need more clothes,’ but what we need to do is to challenge the brands that are out there that are not taking responsibility. And offer another way. That’s what I want to do: Compete with those brands and change the behavior of people who buy clothes.”

The designers behind Adnym Atelier, the 2016-founded line of quiet, tailored essentials with avant-garde detailing, were the first to say that sustainability was “a given” for small Swedish fashion brands. In a presentation showcasing gender-neutral coating and suiting, elevated with asymmetric cuts, raw edges, and other deconstructed elements, servers poured the models wine as editors moved through the bistro that hosted the event. “Sometimes I think [the conversation around sustainability is] going too far,” said designer Stefan Soderberg, known for developing Acne Studios’s early noughties denim. “It’s more becoming a brand thing as opposed to why you are doing it. If you take denim, the wind is blowing, so then you don’t know which is ecological or organic. Then, okay, it is organic—but how is it transported?”

Soderberg’s frankness is a breath of fresh air in an industry rife with greenwashing and dubious marketing. There seemed to be a genuine questioning of current industry practices throughout the week.

At the presentation for Leoni, the delicately feminine line founded by Swedish fashion entrepreneur Nathalie Scuterman and designer Felippa Fuxe, elegant minimal dresses and separates sat alongside artwork and design objects on sale at Bukowski’s auction house. The designers showed their signature cardigans, inspired by a thirties coat with buttons running up the center, alongside gorgeous showpieces like a dress with a dramatic circular end. “The whole Scandinavian minimalism is still huge, but we also want to really integrate what Scandinavian can mean, and it can also mean really Nordic historical references or Nordic craft and embroidery,” said Fuxe.

The pair recently went on a road trip around Sweden. “We visited these old manufacturers,” explained Scuterman. “And especially these two we were really in love with,” continued Fuxe. “The dream is to really merge the classic bigger production but make it more local as well.”

Scuterman and Fuxe are offering yet another new vision of what Swedish fashion and the Swedish approach to sustainability can be.

It was an invigorating week that stayed true to the values underlying the program. “The Association of Swedish Fashion Brands is an upside-down pyramid in how it is governed,” said Gille, giving context to the development of the well-considered week. Stockholm Fashion Week is seeking to be sustainable on a local level while fostering new talent. We’ll certainly be following the designers who showed—many for the first time—this season.