The Stockholm Fashion List
Just before Christmas I was lucky enough to visit one of my dream destinations, Stockholm, Sweden's capital, and I totally fell in love with the design-centric physique of the city, from interior design and architecture to the chic, minimalist street style. I managed to visit a few cult Swedish fashion stores like Weekday, Cos and Acne, and discovered a cool indie designer boutique too. Read on to see the shops to visit while you're in Stockholm. You're in for a very stylish treat.
Weekdayhttp://shop.weekday.com/gb
I wasn't planning on spending much money on my travels, as everyone knows Scandinavia can be ludicrously expensive, but Weekday, on of my favourite high street stores that haven't made it to the UK yet, had a mega sale on so I picked up some Cheap Monday high-waisted black skinny jeans (in a rarely found 34 inch leg!) and a simple burgundy bralet. Weekday basic underwear is a total must-have, the only lingerie I've tried that's both sexy and super comfortable.
Monki
Fun-loving fashion retailer Monki, which is owned by another Swedish success story: H&M, is the perfect place for an affordable, fashion-forward pick-me-up. What I love are the store designs, each one totally unique and out of this world.
Acne Studioshttp://www.acnestudios.com/uk/en/home
The fairy godmother of cool-girl style, Acne Studios, has a beautiful concept store in Stockholm. With an extensive denim collection as per their speciality, as well as new season collections from the classic to the crazy, I pretty much drooled over everything.
Grandpa
With cool vintage-style interiors, supremely well-dressed staff and excellent music taste, Grandpa, on the hipster island of Sodermalm, is the ultimate lifestyle store. Think Urban Outfitters, but with higher quality products and more of an indie vibe.
Cos
Cos is the ultimate retail experience if you love minimalist, modern silhouettes and styles and an interior full of clean lines, geometric shapes and easy-to-shop rails of beautiful and functional clothing. What stands out is that there seems to be no predominant trends and fads being followed, simply flattering garments for any age, gender or size.
Aspire by Choke
I randomly wondered into a newly refurbished boutique in a shopping mall and discovered a brand that clicked with all my values and preferences. Aspire by Choke creates cleverly constructed womenswear in lightweight fabrics and a simple colour palette of black, white and grey. I spoke extensively to the fashion designer who had so much passion for his work, which combines Scandinavian and Asian design fusion.
Other cool fashion brands and stores in Stockholm:
Sneakers n Stuff, a sneakerhead's paradise (http://www.sneakersnstuff.com)
Stutterheim, for the classic raincoat (http://stutterheim.com)
J Lindeberg, refined, chic apparel (http://www.jlindeberg.com/)