Finally, Stockholm has a fashion week worth the paper its invitation cards are printed on. Sweden had a late start in fashion — fashionistas were still a rare
breed as of the late-’80s. During the ’90s, general interest in the way we wore rocketed, but the annual fashion fair closed,
much to the advantage of Copenhagen’s CPH. After a few years of a resurrected but marginal fashion week in situ, this was the season that we were finally having fun again — on and off the catwalk. The s/s ’07 collections were given the
attention they deserved in the forms of ambitious productions, huge press coverage, front rows full of stars, fantastic parties,
beautiful models, and liters of champagne. Just in time.

The superstars of the scene were actually absent — Acne and Cheap Monday weren’t there, J Lindeberg does Milan nowadays, Filippa K and WeSc showed off-season, and Rodebjer flew the coop for New York City. So Ann-Sofie Back‘s mere presence made her the week’s homecoming queen.
Showing in Stockholm for the first time, her BACK line was presented to the sounds of strong women with guitars. Conceptual
as always, it began where things usually end, with the models walking backwards, applauding their own performance. Time also
seemed to reverse itself, deleting the naughties and placing us smack in the middle of the ’90s, with Alanis Morrisette tunes,
heavy boots, bohemian candlelight (worryingly close to fishnet tights), messy hair, and multiple shades of gray.

Back’s show could have been the highlight of the week if it hadn’t been for Carin Wester, this year’s most fabulous surprise. Her menswear ranged from very preppy to city-oriented, and featured fabulous cuts never
seen before yet highly wearable, even, at times, "functional." And Wester’s women’s line wasn’t far behind. Best of all, the
runway men’s/women’s joint venture worked — creating an efficient upgrade of the ’90s dream of a harmonious, unisex fashion
marriage.

Perhaps a bit less tidy, but still worth a mention, is Whyred, who, per the company’s habit, mixed sober pieces with explosions of basic red, lavender, blue, and vivid greens. For Whyred,
s/s ’07 is all about cotton, carefree seaside lifestyles, light rains, and the odd African influence.

The Swede with the strongest CV of them all, Lars Nilsson, was recently awarded the prestigious Guldknappen award, and he celebrated by flying in his a/w ’06–’07 collection for Nina Ricci. His fantastic, classic-with-a-twist efforts were shown in a tent specially erected for the event, in front of the bay of
Brunnsviken. This idyllic backdrop turned out to be the last ever to grace a Lars Nilsson Nina Ricci show, as Sweden’s greatest revealed,
only days later, that he was leaving his post as Creative Director — a huge shock for fashion scenesters.

Other shocking events included the Björn Borg show, which featured so much nudity (and frankly such boring underwear) that even the tennis star himself seemed a bit uncomfortable
— to say nothing of his wife and children. More nudity was on display at the otherwise so strict and girly Dagmar show. In
this case, on an elongated runway populated by very lightly dressed models parading the pavement, the spectacle created a
number of both long faces and traffic problems.
-Madelaine Levy, Editor-in-Chief, Bon magazine

Photos:
Carin Wester s/s ’07
Dagmar s/s ’07
Björn Borg s/s ’07
BACK s/s ’07
Nina Ricci a/w ’06-’07
Whyred s/s ’07