Scandi Brands To Elevate Your Moodboard

Here's a selection of Scandi brands inspiring product teams in New Luxury brands.

Scandinavia has been a driver in fashion for decades. Whether it’s Sweden, Norway or Denmark - the region’s designers and brands are inspiring teams around the world.

We asked our friends on the ground in Stockholm, Gothenberg, Copenhagen and Oslo (special shout out to Centra and Resourced) to help us build a guide to the brands that deserve a place on any moodboard.

This one is for the product design and development teams:

YUME YUME

The footwear industry, perhaps even more so than fashion itself, is difficult to stand out in. In footwear, standing out is one of, if not the most crucial element of success; a success that YUME YUME has achieved with finesse. 

A brand that is, at its heart, a cross between an art exhibition or gallery and a footwear/ready-to-wear fashion line, YUME YUME takes a radical approach to design that borders on otherworldly without being unwearable. 

Great care and consideration have been afforded to its visual outputs, with its footwear stylised against colourful backdrops reminiscent of pop prints and eccentric still-life photography. Visually captivating, this unique worldview extends to its footwear offering, most notably its women's selection, with heels, slips, and boots that bring fun back into footwear. Every element of the brand is exciting and daring, demonstrating divergence from risk aversion and the power of statement-making design. 

teenage engineering

Warning. Bold statement ahead. No one does tech like teenage engineering. 

Throughout design history, the Scandinavian region has been at the forefront of cutting-edge, retro-futurist tech design, especially within the audio space. Riffing on the region’s rich cultural footing, Stockholm-born and based teenage engineering has been pushing the boundaries of tech design since 2005. 

Whether you’re looking to build an arsenal of technology that can be beautifully displayed with no intention of use, or an audiophile wanting to elevate your collection aesthetically, teenage engineering is a one-stop shop for everything. Its product selection includes voice recorders, modular synthesisers, a “choir” of wooden dolls, and a recording and sound performance system; all of which bare aesthetics unlike anything else on the market. 

A testament to fine-tuned refinement, experimentation, and pushing design and technology to its absolute limits without sacrificing utility or functionality, teenage engineering is undoubtedly one of the most exciting brands on the market and an incredible source of inspiration for brands operating in any field.

Stockholm (Surfboard) Club

Stockholm (Surfboard) Club has spread like wildfire across the fashion industry’s most highly-favoured New Luxury retail imprints, thanks to its bold, carefree aesthetics that set it apart from the brands it’s stocked beside. 

Bearing an energy that feels in line with that of Stűssy, its line-up includes streetwear classics such as plaid shirts, graphic print tees, denim, cargos, and utilitarian outerwear silhouettes, each arriving in bold pop colours or daring patterns and dyes. 

Think Californian cool realised through the lens of Scandinavian design sensibility. It’s a winning formula that (once again) proves that fashion doesn’t have to be hyper-serious. 

A Day’s March 

A staple of Scandinavian design sensibilities with a minimalistic approach to uniformed clothing, A Day’s March exemplifies simplicity through its apparel offering, visual identity, and web format. 

Keeping a tight focus on fabrications and fit, the brand’s product line-up oozes sophistication. Few better examples exist for brands looking to build an everyday wardrobe.

Our Legacy 

In contemporary menswear, Our Legacy sits at the head of the table. Responsible for crafting a wardrobe of staple looks with a focus on timeless silhouettes and premium fabrics and finishes, it has risen to the peak of the fashion industry in just under two decades. 

Perhaps the biggest achievement of the Swedish brand is making such enormous strides without faulting its integrity; with each seasonal collection, it’s retained its core values of quality, minimalism, and progressive design, without falling victim to its own successes. 

Revered around the world for the cross-seasonality of its products that allow its customers to build a wardrobe that’s entirely Our Legacy, its masterful aesthetics are mirrored within its campaigns, editorials, and website; each boasting clean, functional design that skips on frills in place of sophistication.  

Holzweiler

Holzweiler’s rise, despite feeling relatively new outside of its Norwegian home, has been 12 years in the making. Having let its roots flourish across the Scandinavian region, the family-run brand began rumbling across the European continent, finding a series of success stories across the UK and EU market through its minimalist, functional, and clean-lined approach to fashion design. 

Undoubtedly Scandinavian in its design sensibilities, Holzweiler has taken a cautious approach not to dilute or overcomplicate its style, ensuring synergy across the seasons to create a wardrobe offering that’s ultra-wearable. 

Given its proximity to cold, it’s been particularly successful in its approach to outerwear, while more recent seasons have demonstrated excellence within the baggage category, with its Cocoon, Raspberry, and Strawberry bags being particularly strong examples of its accessory evolution. 

EYTYS

Crafting a distinct, unique visual language and identity is, of course, one of the keys to success in the fashion industry. In an industry that’s growing increasingly saturated, while a fundamental, this isn’t always a task easily achieved. For EYTYS, however, it comes second nature. 

Since bursting into Stockholm’s fashion scene in 2013, Eytys has quickly demonstrated its eye for captivating design by charging forward with attitude and flair. While still bearing many of the expected characteristics of Scandinavian design, Eytys has made its mark by leaning into its youthful edge, crafting an aesthetic that’s somewhat tongue-in-cheek while remaining chic. 

While brands like Our Legacy have embraced modernity through the elevating of staple looks, Eytys has tuned up its styling, with maximalist sneaker silhouettes, playful slogan prints, and experimental fabrications. Between its clothing, accessories, and visual output, EYTYS's youth cultural edge is undeniable, and sets it apart from many of its regional and international counterparts.

Séfr

Another Swedish brand that's built a distinct visual identity that’s seen it carve out its own lane, is Séfr. Having started out as a brand selling vintage clothing, Séfr bears a strong understanding of what works and why—more importantly, what makes clothing timeless. 

Taking notes from their customers’ tastes, from details to feel, the brand’s founders built strong foundations that have gone on to inform its forward direction, resulting in a diverse product selection boasting full looks and unique statement pieces. 

Through this deep understanding of fashion and its history, Séfr has grown into its own, taking on an aesthetic that paints a picture of 70s-80s nostalgia, filtered through the lens of fine-tuned Scandinavian design.