During Fashion Week Trade at the beginning of this month, we were invited by the Stockholm Fashion District to the launch of Nordic Lab 2020, following a program to support upcoming, young fashion brands with all the tools they need to thrive in the modern and competitive world of fashion.
One of the functions of the Stockholm Fashion District is to support Swedish fashion brands as they launch themselves out into the world and that’s why they have created Nordic Lab, a laboratory for their development and digitalisation with a totally new strategy.
At Nordic Lab brands meet with experts experienced in different areas of the fashion business, who take a look at each of the participating brands, their business model, their products, market and profiles. Then the experts provide them with knowhow, promotion, interaction and experience to reach the specific goals of each company.
During the press conference, the invited media were presented with the challenges of the fashion landscape of 2020, that the young fashion brands are now facing. One example is digitalisation, as it is through the digital platforms the brands meet and talk to the clients and ultimately sell their products. New innovative brand stories need to be developed thinking about the behaviour of the customers. They must take into account that people are buying differently and also buying less in quantity but more quality. At the same time the brands must provide added value to their products and be committed to the environment and the community.
Among the brands taking part in Nordic Lab and presented during Fashion Week Trade, was Harvest Moon, a brand we already love as their philosophy is to empower the women on the go through fashion in a soft business style and yoga stylish comfortable wear. You might remember our video interview with Ylva Bryhn, founder and designer of Harvest Moon!
Another brand that caught our attention was Friendly Home, inspired by nature in the development of their handmade fragrance products, made with care and love in the archipelago outside Stockholm. They create durable and environmentally friendly fragrance sticks, room sprays, and scented candles without toxic additives. They also offer private labelling, where anyone from a private person or a company can create their own smell for a candle for example, own label and/or bottle or jar. We had the chance to try some of their fragrances and we must say they were unique and so pleasant!
There was also SHADESHARES, who produce quality sunglasses made of Finnish birch veneer with polarised UV protection lenses. All of SHADESHARES’ sunglasses, down to every single detail, are produced by young adults who come from the Kariobangi & Korogocho slums around Nairobi, Kenya, and are offered training and employment. Committed to become a zero carbon footprint company, SHADESHARES plants one tree for each sunglass pair sold. Among SHADESHARES’ supported charities and partners is World Vision. 20% of every pair of sunglasses sold is directly spent on supporting the professional education and employment of young people living in the Kariobangi & Korogocho slums.
Nordic Lab is a project that shows Stockholm Fashion District’s commitment and passion for supporting Swedish fashion entrepreneurs, small and big. They will keep on providing a platform from where brands and professionals can get help for building global fashion brands from the Nordic countries for the future.
