From month to month, Stockholm-based Verona Farrell of Secondhandhuns scours and snapshots the best style throughout our region's streets (and hottest parties) for Vogue Scandinavia – sharing her musings along the way. This time round, she lensed what Stockholm Fashion Week folk were donning for the show schedule
For years, I've dreamt of living in a city that hosts its own fashion week. The sweet luxury of it all: access to your entire wardrobe, nipping home for a quick snack in between shows and finding refuge in grounded non-fashion-interested friends at the end of the night (the latter being my best hack to avoid falling too deep into the rat race).
While Stockholm Fashion Week is a smaller beast than your bi-annual Paris or Copenhagen chaos, its revival is a welcome shift for the city’s fashion folk hungrier than ever for a packed schedule on home turf.
Below, I get answers to my enduring question... what was everyone wearing?
Daniel Darko with Harmonia Ndayishimiye and Abby Alyousofi .
Running into this Stockholm trio guarantees one thing: a fabulous time. I spotted Daniel Darko and his two right-hand women – professional dancers Harmonia Ndayishimiye and Abby Alyousofi – kicking off a full day of fashion week antics, which started strong at the Imaskopi show at the National Museum. With social batteries fully charged and outfits co-ordinated without co-ordinating, these three are the ones to call if your event needs a dose of energy. Having styled two shows the day before, Darko was still all in: “I’m so ready to stay out till 5AM.”
John-Jamal Gille, director of Stockholm Fashion Week. Photo: Verona Farrell
Stockholm Fashion Week’s director and make-it-happen man of the hour, John-Jamal Gille, dashes in between shows and events in a jacket made entirely from mushrooms, naturally. The jacket is a creation by Swedish brand Deadwood using Fine Mycelium™, which I learned is essentially an eco-friendly material made from a lab-grown fungus. Think leather’s vegan cousin that steers clear of plastic.
Gille tells me the city’s fashion week is “back with a bang,” now bolstered by government support. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has officially recognised fashion as a strategic industry for Sweden. According to the ASFB, this season marks more than just a relaunch – it’s “akin to a complete rewrite.”
Swedish designer Michelle Lannerhjelm.
Just off the back of her own brand’s street-hosted runway show, Michelle Lannerhjelm wears her own designs from ByMicla, which she hand-makes in her Linköping living room. With a background as a fashion editor, she’s now turned her focus to DIY design where “upcycling is the core” and denim takes
Elegant ex-model Ulrica Lenaro is a fan of Leoní. Photo: Verona Farrell
A picture of true Stockholm elegance, ex-model Ulrica Lenaro arrived at Stockholm Fashion Week fresh from the tennis club changing rooms. For both Lenaro and her daughter, Filippa Fuxe's brand Leoní is the go-to for effortless, off-duty style with intergenerational appeal. “My daughter and I both wear – and love – Leoní,” she says, pairing the brand’s signature Rooni cardigan with Chanel pumps and Hermès accessories. As for trousers? “Usually I’d do something like Céline,” she admits, though today she’s opted for easy, throw-on slacks from Reformation.
Photo: Verona Farrell
A blonde, a brunette and a red head walk into a bar. The bar is the Deadwood show during Stockholm fashion week and the trio in question are Melvin Thore, Isak Alidzanovics and Dustin Glickman. If I was styling a boy band this is how it would look.