Work & Business
Stockholm’s Fashion Week Canceled: The State Of Fashion In Sweden
Sweden isn’t necessarily synonymous with fashion, but we’ve seen enough news in the past few weeks to get us thinking about the sustainable impact fashion has and how Swedish brands fit into the equation.
Earlier this summer, the Swedish Fashion Council announced it was canceling Stockholm Fashion Week, originally scheduled for Aug. 27-29, for the sake of sustainability and environmental impact.
In an interview with i-D, Jennie Rosén, CEO of the Swedish Fashion Council said: “Stepping away from the conventional Fashion Week model has been a difficult, but much considered decision. We need to put the past to rest and stimulate the development of a platform that is relevant for today’s fashion industry [and] focus on creating tools and platforms in order to support and prepare the industry for the future.”
Eco-fashion, or sustainable fashion, is a hot topic in the industry. From the sourcing to the fabrication, delivery and the consumption of the raw and final materials, the global impact is tremendous.
And since Sweden is synonymous with sustainability, what’s being done about it?
The sustainable connection
From Fjällräven to IKEA, we’ve covered many companies who do everything they can to ensure their processes and products are as sustainable as possible. This doesn’t always mean products are organic, but it does mean they’re looking at where and how they source their materials; the amount of water, chemicals and emissions they process; and how final products are used and consumed – and ultimately, discarded. For one power plant, it burned old H&M clothes that couldn’t be sold, as part of its strategy to eliminate fossil fuels. Well, that’s one way to get rid of clothes…
Speaking of H&M, the global retailer leans in hard to the sustainable message, and while some critics cry marketing scheme, you have to give it credit. H&M has a diverse “conscious” line, it has an in-store garment recycling program and it has been fur-free for decades, with many other sourcing policies in place to protect animal welfare.
What’s next?
We think the cancellation of Stockholm Fashion Week is just the beginning of bigger moves taken by Sweden’s fashion industry. The big retailers are paving the way and creating the manual for sustainable fashion, but smaller companies are doing what they can to help create a circular model for the industry (like what Nudie Jeans does with its lifetime denim fixes, or what Sägen is doing with broken jewelry remnants).
