Zalando's cultural hub The Corner returned to Way Out West for a second year running, this time alongside a capsule designed with Danish label Samsøe Samsøe. Below, we explore the spot-to-be and the festival crowd's best dressed guests
Nordic summer compressed fast this year: a handful of warm weeks sandwiched by the last throes of festival season and the first of autumn. Way Out West, in Gothenburg's Slottsskogen park, was where the region's style crowd spent the tail end of that circuit – and for the second year running, its centre of gravity was The Corner, Zalando's physical hub on the festival grounds.
Set within Slottsskogen park, The Corner ran as a cultural space alongside the main festival programme across the three days: an exclusive live set from Jalda, unfiltered live talks with Daniela Rathana and Killen, and an interactive hub stocked with surprise DJ sets, retro gaming, and a curated library. It was Zalando's fifth consecutive year as a Way Out West partner.
The activation arrived primed by a content partnership with Universal Music Nordic: a two-episode series hosted by Rathana and featuring Killen and Jalda, built around a running gag involving an on-set microwave that triggered prompts and surprise reveals.
This year, The Corner also came with a dress code. Zalando partnered with Danish label Samsøe Samsøe on 'Summer in the City', an exclusive unisex capsule collection that has now landed across all Zalando markets.
Exploring Scandinavian minimalism recut for urban utility, the 12-piece capsule splits into three moods. Tailoring arrives with oversized grey melange blazers with widened shoulders, worn with matching tailored shorts or mini skirts. Leisurewear brings zip-up track cardigans with contrast sleeve stripes and lightweight, baggy cargo trousers with adjustable drawstrings. The staples are exactly that: check button-down shirts and shorts, ringer tees with embroidered logos, and distressed denim. The colour palette leans earthy with delicious chocolate shades off-set by sky blue. Grey melange and cream made zesty with a shot of red.
"Samsøe Samsøe captures the essence of contemporary Scandinavian culture like few others," says Sebastian Becker, general manager Nordics at Zalando. This moment also marks Zalando's fifth consecutive year as a festival partner, and the second for The Corner, its physical hub on the festival grounds. "The Corner provides a perfect platform to showcase the capsule collection, celebrating Nordic urban lifestyle where fashion, city living, and festival culture naturally come together," says Becker.
Between the capsule and the hub, this year, the best-dressed crowd at Way Out West wore Samsøe Samsøe, and they did it at The Corner.
