How Petra Fagerström became Scandinavia’s buzziest new design talent

Petra Fagerström’s first “official” sewing lesson came courtesy of her grandmother. An adolescent Fagerström, who oft spent her free time scrolling Tumblr, had spotted a bubble skirt online and thought it was “super cool”. Attempts to find the garment in her native Gothenburg were futile (“There wasn’t much of a fashion scene,” she says) and so, she asked her grandmother to teach her to sew one. It didn’t go entirely to plan. “We made one from a really cheap fabric,” says Fagerström. “And then I went to iron it and it melted.”

Some 15 years later and Fagerström has nabbed a semifinalist spot for the 2026 LVMH prize, a coveted residency at the Paul Smith Foundation (which offers not only studio space in London but also mentoring) and held a buzzy debut show at London Fashion Week. Her pieces are stocked at Dover Street Market and worn by Charli xcx. “I’ve had a pretty quick turn of events after graduating,” says Fagerström in what can only be described as a charming understatement. She is, in short, the next big design talent to come out of Sweden (insert requisite trajectory comparisons to Ellen Hodakova Larsson and Ann-Sofie Back).

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