As Elvira Eriksson tells it, the runaway success of Mockberg, the watch and jewellery brand she and her brother founded out of Stockholm just over a decade ago, was somewhat fated. But as we come to learn, that fate is bolstered by talent, hard work and killer instinct. We meet with the young entrepreneur at her expansive HQ and her brand-new home to discover that Mockberg arrived just in time
“I’ve never sat out here,” says Elvira Eriksson as we settle in at the table on the balcony of Mockberg HQ , coffees in hand. I can’t imagine why; jutting out the side of an attractive office building on Strandvägen – arguably Stockholm’s most covetable stretch – it’s a lovely little balcony with views of The Royal Stables on one side and the glimmering water on the other. When Eriksson and her team moved into the building early last year it was a real full-circle moment; after launching Mockberg, a watch and jewellery brand known for feminine design at a just-right price point, in 2015, she rented a modest room several floors above. “I believe in synchronicities and I’ve always been a very spiritual person – I really believe in the energies of some places,” says Eriksson. “When I was here when I was young, I had this feeling I would come back here and have an office like this.” Back then there was no balcony; the business was just herself and her brother, Daniel Eriksson, who worked from home. Today 34-year-old Eriksson is joined by 12 employees (and another 15 working from another office in Varberg, in the south of Sweden), spread over the better part of an entire floor.
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Lace bodysuit, €665, Lace-trimmed organza jacket, €2,465. Both Pauline Dujancourt. Wool trousers, €590. Lisa Yang. Wool pillbox hat, €80. Ninevé. Stainless steel earrings, €90. Mockberg. Photo: Sara Bille
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Designer and entrepreneur Elvira Eriksson splashes around outside her freshly built home in the Stockholm suburb Tyresö, the same neighbourhood in which she grew up. Fringed wool-blend cardigan, €540. By Malene Birger. Nylon skirt, €400. GANNI. Rubber boots, €150. Tretorn. Photo: Sara Bille
It isn’t the only real estate in Eriksson’s life with a loop-closing backstory. Her freshly built home in the Stockholm suburb Tyresö (she moved in with her husband and their two young children over Midsummer), is located just a hop and a skip from where she grew up. It’s a neighbourhood she describes as firmly underrated; a hidden gem just a 30-minute commute from the office (one hour in traffic). “There’s a lot of nature, it’s by the ocean, close to Tyresö slott – a big castle with a garden,” she says. “It was so surreal – when I was growing up me and my friends were playing and going swimming in the castle garden.”
The home itself is an elegant Falu red structure that splits the difference between her love of traditional Scandinavian design and her husband’s love of modern architecture (they could both agree on expansive windows to maximise the view of the water). “I always had in my mind to buy this property by the water – that was my dream,” says Eriksson. “As soon as we could afford it we bought this summer house with no heat and no fireplace and said, ‘We’re going to build a house here one day’.” Five years and two kids later, the dream house has come to fruition; a physical reflection of the power of Eriksson’s manifestations. That, and the success of Mockberg.