Why is the world so mad about Matilda Djerf? Often dubbed the 'Brigitte Bardot of the Nordics', Djerf is a social media sensation and successful entrepreneur – with a head of hair so iconic, followers flock from around the world to the stylist responsible in her small hometown of Borås. Now, captured in the Stockholm archipelago as you've never seen her before, Djerf opens up about vulnerability, "safe spaces", and her own take on the fascination that drives her digital empire and insatiable online following
Matilda Djerf is perched on a chair in a whitewashed wood-panelled house outside Stockholm, her face bathed in morning light, her hair – that golden mane, pictures of which have been shown with hopeful optimism to countless hairdressers across the globe – being deftly sectioned, spritzed, and bound in big rollers. From time to time, she picks up her iPhone and taps at lightning fast speed, masterfully coordinating her team of 40 from afar, before setting it down and serenely closing her eyes.
The 26-year-old entrepreneur, content creator and brand founder, who is adoringly labelled an ‘ultimate dream girl’, ‘wholesome queen’ and ‘CEO of curtain bangs’ by her scores of online followers, is in the midst of transforming into a new persona for Vogue Scandinavia: a vision plucked directly from an idyllic ‘70s mood board with a Swedish archipelago setting. Djerf’s signature buoyant blow-out is getting the 'va-va-voom' treatment to become a Farrah Fawcett-style feathery blonde halo, her brows bleached so light, they’re almost imperceptible. Stepping into this role for a day, Djerf is radiant in vintage prints, wide bell-bottoms and Levi's denim, lacy crochet and shearling trims, all nodding to a bygone era. “Oh my god, I look like my mother!” she gushes, upon seeing some of the first image proofs.