Swedish Stockings' new collection provides a leg up on cold-weather layering

Few brands have managed to create as compelling a universe as Swedish Stockings. Over the past 13 years, the brand has talked the talk and walked the (gorgeously leggy) walk, addressing one of the fashion industry's most wasteful, and often most overlooked, categories: hosiery. "Tights may be small and inexpensive, but billions of pairs are thrown away every year after just a few wears," says founder and CEO Linn Frisinger. "The mission since I started has always been to influence the fashion industry to produce better."

In the beginning, a big part of Swedish Stockings' work was simply proving that sustainable tights could exist and perform just as well as conventional ones. "Now, we want to take that one step further," says Frisinger. And thus, the autumn/winter '26 collection came about as a way to prove that legwear has the leg up on any other accessory in your wardrobe. "Something that can define a look, rather than complete it."

Swedish Stockings' creative campaigns have always been one of the more compelling ways the brand convinces you to wear anything beyond the usual wear-and-tear 20 denier. Bubblegum pink legs draped over stone steps or blue lace tights crossed just-so on a park bench in Lisbon had us longing for a splash of colour in our summer wardrobes. Lemon yellow knee-high socks in a Kyoto tea house. Truth be told, this fashion journalist has never been one to want to draw attention to her legs (an old, and hard-to-shake, conviction that I have terrible calves). Still, Swedish Stockings' stirrups compelled me to step outside of my comfort zone last Copenhagen Fashion Week. All in the name of leg-loving fashion.

The AW26 campaign, shot by Janneke Van Der Hagen and styled by Hilda Sandström, continues the brand's history of aesthetic home runs. "We wanted to challenge the idea that tights should simply blend in," says Frisinger. "We're playing much more with texture, colour and contrast, treating the leg as an important part of the silhouette."

As for hands-on tips on how to wear one of the brand's covetable pairs, Sandström has all of the answers: "My favourite way to wear stockings is with a coat or trench coat. No trousers needed," she exclaims. If the trench coat-only look is too leggy for you, try to let your stockings show up in unexpected places: "Style your lace stockings under trousers with a slit or let the waistline of your stockings peek through as a sheer detail against bare skin. Either with a crop top or by styling your top tucked in," Sandström continues. "It's all about playing with contrasting textures and unexpected details."

If Swedish Stockings were personified, Frisinger likes to think of the brand as a woman who can be dancing on a bar at night and performing brain surgery the next morning. "The most interesting brands, like the most interesting people, can hold both sides at once – intelligence and beauty," she says. With its new logo and packaging, the brand is transforming into the aforementioned accessory. "I also want women to think differently about tights," says Frisinger. According to the founder, a pair of tights has been something you pull on because you have to – to combat the cold or keep things modest. Now, they should provide the final fashion flourish. "A single pair can completely change the way you feel in something you already own," she says.

Most importantly, this shift of mindset also feeds into shaking up the wear-and-tear view most women have of their hosiery. "That's exactly the mindset we're trying to change," says Frisinger. "We want to make something that women both can and want to keep, wear and style in different ways. I like the idea of getting more out of the things you already own." A great pair of tights can completely change the feel of something you've worn a hundred times. "I think there's something very powerful about that," says Frisinger. "We often feel that we need to buy something new to change an outfit, when sometimes all you need is a different pair of tights. The same dress can suddenly feel completely different."