“Style before gender” is HOPE Stockholm’s first claim when opening their website. Their search bar allows users not having to decide between the men’s and women’s section to find their new love piece but rather discover both sections simultaneously. All their garments are therefore labelled with both men’s and women’s sizes. “There’s truly no reason why anyone today should feel limited by old fashion conventions” states the company.
Founded in 2001, HOPE’s aesthetic can be characterised as honest and direct, creating must-haves and not-your-ordinary basics. HOPE Stockholm is for everyone that appreciates its unisex, reduced and androgynous appeal.
Established in 1993, Filippa K proudly celebrated their 30th anniversary this year launching a coffee table book. The vibrant images capture archival Filippa K garments throughout time as well as nature photographs by renowned Swedish photographer JH Engström - a powerful source of inspiration for Creative Director Liisa Kessler. Filippa K has long been regarded as a pioneer in sustainability. Aside from constantly advocating for conscious consumption and transparently sharing their annual sustainability reports, the company aims to reduce carbon emissions by concrete activities such as primarily using organic and recycled cotton and sticking to monofibres making recycling much easier. Moreover, they have built a second hand platform where preowned Filippa K pieces can be shopped - a step towards circularity. Filippa K can be considered the epitome of Swedish style: Classy, highly minimalist and effortless.
Tiger of Sweden was founded in 1903 (!) and is therefore celebrating its 120th anniversary this year. Since the 1990s, the company has strongly focused on business wear and has perfected the art of tailoring with their men’s suits. Their design ethos is based on equality, function, and meaningful design which becomes especially clear when looking at their very first unisex collection - genderless wardrobe icons designed with unique silhouettes tailored to men and women.
However, the brand not only scores points with suits, but also with coats and knitwear, as it has once again shown with its latest Ben Cobb collaboration. Tiger of Sweden has long been admired by the London-based tastemaker and ES Magazine editor for its impeccably elegant menswear. Their collaborative collection is consciously crafted from reclaimed fabrics sourced from British and Italian manufacturers, and each piece is limited edition.
Started as a rather underground accessory-only brand known for their oversized shoe silhouettes in 2013, Eytys has quickly become one of the most uber-cool exports from Sweden. Since 2019, the brand founded by Max Schiller and Jonathan Hirschfeld also delivers strongly when it comes to ready-to-wear creating absolute icons like their Benz jeans.Their bold designs with many 90’s and rave inspirations make them especially popular among Gen Z’s. The brand pushes their futuristic narrative further by launching a print magazine named EY! styling their own pieces in expressive editorial spreads reminding us of old comics. Eytys embraces an inclusive approach similar to Hope: All styles are considered unisex and simply come with men’s and women’s size indications. Moreover, they are one of the few brands that offer a range of heeled shoes sized bigger than EU 42.