Swedes have an inherent sense of style, it’s undeniable. With a history of quality and clean design and an eye for vintage, it’s a style that has taken over the world. Swedish design has traveled across the world, with well-known names like H&M, DRKM and Acne Studios dominating the high street and fashion weeks. The Swedish interior style runs from minimalistic and sleek to colorful and a lot of patterns, and no one is shy about adding a good old Ikea piece to their homes.
Swedish interior
Swedish interior, also known as Scandinavian interior, is a movement founded based on simplicity, minimalism and functionality that emerged in the 50’s between the five Nordic countries, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland.
The term Scandinavian design originally comes from a design show that travelled across the US and Canada which promoted the Scandinavian way of living. Scandinavian designers were influenced by nature and everything around them, and so it became a tradition of craftmanship. Scandinavian designers had the aim to make their environment as comfortable as possible with the materials they had to their disposal. Because of this thought, the creation of light, bright practical spaces arrived, which led to an indoor/outdoor flow into the designs.
Looking purely to the Swedish design, it’s minimalistic with an emphasis on functionality and clean lines. Their most famous brand, IKEA has good quality designs, which is accessible to all, especially when it comes to furniture. Sweden is also known for traditional crafts which includes glass, for example the Dala horse, and Sami handicrafts, which are bone and leather items crafted by the Finno-Ugric people inhabiting Sápmi.
In Barcelona, you also have the opportunity to discover the Scandinavian design in an Art Nouveau Barcelona Apartment. This beautiful building in Barcelona is a bright and modern 2,583-square-foot apartment and is a dream for every designer. Owned by designer Eline Vila D’Acosta-Calheiros and her husband, the place has a tile floor, crown moldings and ceiling ornaments. With a lick of white paint on the walls, the interior feels spacious and sleek, and provides a nice back view for the beautiful home furnishings, which are from many Scandinavian designers like Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner and many more.
Take a look at the apartment:
To top it off, we have listed some Swedish interior & design stores you can visit in Barcelona.
Swedish Clothing design
The Swedish sense of style is often described as timeless, minimalistic, and effortlessly cool. Swedish designers are among the best in the world if it comes to clean designs and sustainability. Quality, functionality, and layering are some of the cornerstones in Swedish fashion, but they also love denim and vintage clothing, but that hasn’t always been the case.
The traditional Swedish clothing is a hugely important part of Sweden’s culture, still to this day. Swedish traditional clothing looks a lot like the folk wear clothing from places like the Netherlands or Germany, but the Swedish clothing has its own spin to it.
Sweden’s traditional clothing has changed a lot throughout the years. Clothing for woman was seen as more cultural because of men’s lack of fashion in the way of so-called masculinity. Traditional clothing has different forms based on the class and religion of a person.
The men in Sweden would traditionally wear trousers with long socks, a jacket which was made from some sort of handspun material of animal skin. Trousers would stop right below the knee, therefore the long socks, and the colors worn were white and blue.
The woman is Sweden consisted of skirts, aprons, stockings, and a hat. The apron, which is a garment worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body, was often made from linen, wool, and other forms of cotton. Like the traditional clothing for men, it was highly recommended that woman from a certain class or religion, wore clothing that correlates with those characteristics.
Wearing the wrong style could even result in some kind of punishment in some places. In the late 70’s, King Gustav the third created a dress code that regulated men’s and women’s clothing.
Barcelona is also full of Swedish design, and one of the Swedish designers is Lisa Wixell. Lisa Wixell is a fashion designer from Sweden and has been living in Barcelona for 16 years. She started selling ready to wear fashion-collections to Scandinavian shops for 7 years, and now she has opened a shop in Born with her own designs. It’s an atelier and showroom where she sells wedding dresses. Lisa Wixell mixes good things, breakes the rules and standards so that every woman of every size can feel good in their skin, when they wear her dresses.
If you want to read more about Lisa Wixell and her dresses, read this article:
We have also lined up ten Swedish affordable clothing brands you should know:
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