T+L Reports: Swede Success

In the past year, Stockholm's slightly haughty image as the epicenter of minimalist design has been shaken up by a new generation of trendsetters. In the city's SoFo district (South of Folkungagatan), an overlooked Eastern bloc-style neighborhood, young entrepreneurs are opening shops stocked with their own handmade designs, transforming it into a hub of creativity. At the tiny boutique-atelier Nakkna (3 Tjärhovsgatan; 46-8/615-2950), three college friends stitch up deconstructed dresses in bold black-and-white patterns. Around the corner, Le Shop (23B Nytorgsgatan; 46-8/644-9155) carries the city's edgiest street-wear selection: hand-painted T-shirts, punk gear, and fingerless gloves. A few doors down at Jiv (Renstiernas Gata; 46-8/644-8117), Wolf Fischer sells his sister's handknit pieces along with his men's wear collection, which he describes as Dalai Lama meets Grandmaster Flash in Brazil. Nadia Tolstoy and Fredrik Moselius run the industrial-design boutique Apparat (36 Nytorgsgatan; 46-8/653-6633); the product designer and interior architect peddle vintage classics and original creations, such as metal beds crafted from old institutional supplies. The concept store Grandpa (21 Södermannagatan; 46-8/643-6080) retails 1970's furniture, in addition to its own clothing line, the Stockholm Syndrome. The owners also organize street events. Their greatest hit: male gymnasts performing in nothing but briefs.
—Johanna Lenander