Five Stockholm labels lighting up the Swedish fashion scene

Back in the heady, halcyon days of the pandemic, there was a lot of talk of fashion slowing down. 

Fast forward to now, however, and if anything, the industry has only sped up. Not only are brands dropping more collections than ever, with the fashion season schedule packed to the rafters with shows, presentations, and parties, but there’s also a seemingly never-ending stream of big, blockbuster destination shows that see industry insiders zoom across the globe, leaving a trail like a toddler enthusiastically scribbling on a map. 

An organisation that really sat down and took a long hard look at what it was doing, however, was the Swedish Fashion Council. Originally hosting its own fashion week twice a year, the SFC decided to strip back to just one annual blowout event, and shifted its focus to doing things in a new way. 

Relaunching in November 2022 as SFC [Fashion X] the week-long programme turned the traditional fashion week model inside-out and upside-down, trading in the typical back-to-back runway show format for engaging, imaginative events that allowed attendees to get up close and personal with the actual clothes. 

For 2023, this meant huge, immersive dinner parties where poets performed across the banquet tables [in an impressive building that once hosted the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony], intimate trips inside the creative studios of some of the city’s most talented names to know, and adventures in the great outdoors, as editors, influencers, buyers, and more headed into the woods for a hike and food eaten around an open fire – and yes, there were some inappropriate looks happening that day. 

Now, as the dust settles on this year’s edition, we highlight some of the names to know from the Stockholm fashion scene. 

You might not recognise the name, but chances are you’ll have spotted Beate Karlsson’s gooey monster boots while doomscrolling on social media across the last couple of years [Rick Owens loves his so much he slapped them on a plinth and turned them into an objet d’art]. With a focus on sustainable fabrics and salvaged offcuts sourced from some of the biggest fashion houses on the planet [Owens own label among them], the rising designer churns out uber-clever collections with mind-blowing concepts: past seasons have seen her clothes fall off the models halfway down the runway, as a comment on the shoddy nature of fast fashion, or otherwise fall down in the middle of the catwalk, highlighting the kind of adverse conditions many face while toiling to make it to the top of the industry.

At her debut show during the SS24 season in Milan, Karlsson sent a mess of a collection out – looks were half finished, with hems trailing way too far behind their wearer, models were shoved out onto the runway partially dressed, and garments still had scribbled notes on them, as if they were initial toiles as opposed to the final look. Social media went wild for her imaginative riposte to the crazy-fast nature of the fashion industry, and it’s great to see a young designer have fun in what they’re doing – the show was one of the highlights of the season in our opinion, leaving just about every attendee grinning as they shuffled out of the venue and into the late September sun. No mean feat on the last day of Milan Fashion Week, and three weeks of back to back shows. 

A real buzz has been growing around Hodakova in recent seasons, with native Stockholmer Ellen Hodakova Larsson leaving her home city behind and taking her namesake brand to Paris. The designer is known for her unique, salvaged approach to fashion – she will literally turn objects that could easily be found dotted around your house into bonafide works of wearable art.

One dress, for example, is constructed of hundreds of silver spoons, bent at the handle so they slip into the fabric underneath, while another similar garment roots around in the cutlery drawer and utilises forks. The mega-heavy couture pieces are constructed entirely by hand, and become almost like modern suits of armour, while her signature bag, made up of a bunch of heavy duty leather belts with big, bolshy silver buckles is a regular sellout on her website.

Her shows, meanwhile, are more like the fashion happenings of the 90s [or at least, how we imagine them to have been], with the designer taking over an old theatre in Paris for her SS24 show. Lit only by spotlights and backdropped by luxurious velvet curtains, the models moved slowly through the space, the clinking of their looks turning the whole thing into a full-on, sensual, sensory-overload. 

Like Beate Karlsson and Hodakova, Josephine Bergqvist and Livia Schück of Rave Review left Stockholm behind this season, making their debut on the Milan Fashion Week schedule for SS24 a few hours after AVAVAV’s brilliant mess of a show. Like their countrymates, the label is rooted in repurposing and reimagining salvaged materials: big swathes of tartan offcuts become kilts and baggy trousers, big puffers, and more. Known initially for their wildly clashing, chaotic prints, their SS24 collection stripped things back, with the duo sending out a restrained, almost entirely white half-collection made up of flirty slip dresses, barely-there tops, and boxy tailored jackets, most of which had been crafted from old-fashioned table linen dotted delicate embroidered flowers. It wasn’t long before the offering exploded into kaleidoscopic colour, however, with the rest of the offering demonstrating the mad mish-mash that has scored Rave Review… rave reviews [sorry]. 

Founded in 2019, Tuttolente explodes out of the parameters of traditional fashion brand and stretches its arms out in every direction when it comes to creativity – it’s also an underground record label and puts on gigs and events, so it should really come as no surprise that its tagline is ‘Super Active Never Lazy’, the initials of which are dotted across its comfy, slouchy sweatshirts, windbreakers, and track pants.

Besides releasing new items in limited, exclusive drops, Tuttolente has grown an obsessive community within Stockholm’s underground streetwear scene, all brought together around its latest must-have items and pop-ups [last year, the label even threw two weeks of daily events – ranging from Tuttolente haircuts to sample sales, live music performances, free food, and giveaways].

Now, further pushing the boundaries of streetwear, the label made its official runway debut at SFC [Fashion X], unveiling a brand new collection of tracksuits, baggy jeans, low-slung rhinestone-encrusted belts, and Italian-inspired polos. As with any Tuttolente gig, that wasn’t all; the runway also came accompanied by a live performance from rapper DR and a collaboration of airbrushed looks by artist Alma Corbic.

Winner of Chanel’s Ateliers des Matières Prize and the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize, and with a stint at Acne Studios under her belt, womenswear designer Petra Fagerstrom memorialises her family history directly into the pleats of her kaleidoscopic printed dresses. In particular, the designer’s talent lies in transforming harsh, recycled materials from old Mercedes-Benz vehicles, leather scraps, or vintage military parachute fabric into delicate, intricately-crafted tops and dresses – all printed with graphics created to shift between two images as its wearers walk or move.

Described by Fagerstrom as her “first attempts at animation”, last months collection saw trousers and long-sleeves tied up with bows and printed with images of orange sunsets [all paying tribute to her grandmother, who dreamed of visiting California one day], silhouettes of faces bending across long tunics, and long dresses dotted with floral designs. Aside from her signature pleats, the designer’s talent for subversion comes through via asymmetric skirts exploding with belts, chained-up biker boots, and giant puffer coats pointed into witch hats and balaclavas.