Top Fashion Startups In Sweden

Sweden has made a name for itself with fashion brands that marry clean Scandinavian design with innovation, sustainability and a keen understanding of changing consumer behaviour. Established names such as H&M, Acne Studios and Filippa K have helped boost Sweden’s reputation for innovation, but a new generation of brands and fashion businesses are taking it to even greater heights.

Swedish fashion startups are shaking up traditional notions of how clothes are designed, produced, bought and finally thrown away, from clothing designed to last for decades to platforms making second-hand shopping easier. Sustainability is particularly relevant as circularity, resale, repair, upcycling and responsible production are increasingly being embedded into fashion business models. 

Why Swedish Fashion Startups Stand Out

Swedish fashion startups are unique in that they combine Scandinavian design principles with sustainability, technology and experimentation. Minimalism is still a big influence, but these days it’s being used more and more by emerging brands as a springboard to innovate, not a set look. Sustainability is also baked into many of the business models, from ASKET’s focus on longevity, to Rave Review’s reliance on pre-existing materials and Plick and Sellpy’s focus on resale. Circularity is one of the pillars of the future of the Swedish fashion ecosystem, together with digitalisation and more personalised ways of producing and consuming.

Another differentiator is the willingness to rethink the traditional fashion business model. Swedish companies are not just trying to make traditional clothing production a bit more sustainable; many are challenging the very premise that fashion needs to follow a perpetual cycle of producing, buying and discarding. There are different ways to create value from fashion: repair services, resale platforms, upcycling, permanent collections and recycled materials.

How Has Fashion Startup Evolved In Sweden?

The fashion startup scene in Sweden has evolved from a focus on unique Scandinavian design to a much broader ecosystem, including circular fashion, digital marketplaces, sustainable materials and new ways of production. Sweden’s early independent labels helped put the country on the map as a source of internationally relevant contemporary fashion, but newer companies are increasingly responding to environmental concerns and shifting consumer expectations.

The country’s fashion scene is becoming increasingly diverse too. The 2025 relaunch of Stockholm Fashion Week, with established names and a new generation of smaller and emerging brands, was a showcase of the new creative directions Swedish fashion is heading in, with labels such as Leoní, Past Tense and Deadwood.

By 2026, this transformation was becoming even more visible. Stockholm Fashion Week revealed a generational shift in Swedish fashion, with new designers bringing fresh aesthetics and approaches to the industry, while Swedish brands continue to grow their international footprint.

Top 10 Fashion Startups To Watch In Sweden

Sweden’s rising fashion companies have a chance to impact more than just what people wear. They have the potential to shape a more circular, innovative and responsive fashion industry, challenging traditional models of production and consumption to meet the needs of a modern consumer.

ASKET

ASKET is a Stockholm-based fashion label whose ethos is that consumers should buy less, but better quality clothes. The company focuses instead on wardrobe essentials that are intended to stay relevant for years, rather than releasing seasonal collections all the time.

And the brand is very transparent about the production and environmental impact of its garments as well. It also has repair and take-back schemes, to help keep clothes in use for longer, rather than straight to landfill.

ASKET shows how a fashion brand can break the cycle of constant production and replacement of garments. Its approach is particularly pertinent as consumers continue to demand more longevity and transparency from fashion brands. Swedish fashion initiatives have indicated ASKET as an example of a business developing more circular ways of doing clothing.

Deadwood

Deadwood is a Stockholm-based fashion brand, particularly known for its recycled leather. Founded by Carl Ollson and Felix von Bahder, the company has built a city aesthetic around leather jackets and modern fashion.

Its identity is based on the use of recycled leather to help demonstrate how existing materials can be used in modern fashion instead of being discarded.

Deadwood is also one of the new generation of Swedish brands making waves internationally. Vogue mentioned the company alongside newer Stockholm labels such as Leoní and Past Tense after the relaunch of Stockholm Fashion Week.

Leoní

Leoní is one of the new faces on the Swedish fashion scene. The womenswear brand, which was founded in 2024 by Filippa Fuxe and Nathalie Schuterman, mixes minimalist Scandinavian influences with sculptural and distinctive design.

The company is among a new generation of Swedish fashion companies that are moving beyond the country’s traditional minimalist aesthetic while still maintaining a focus on craftsmanship and quality.

Leoní has also hinted at ambitions beyond the domestic market, illustrating how Sweden’s rising designers are increasingly looking to build international audiences from an early stage. Its appearance at the relaunched Stockholm Fashion Week put the brand in the new fashion guard of the country.

qeenew

qeenew is a new Swedish fashion brand founded on recycled textiles and responsible production. The company’s approach is part of a bigger trend within Swedish fashion to get more out of what’s already there.

Companies like qeenew are embedding recycled materials and circular thinking into the products rather than viewing sustainability as something separate from fashion design. This is especially relevant as the fashion industry looks for ways to cut down on waste and move away from a traditional linear model of production.

qeenew is an example of the smaller, emerging companies that are helping to expand the Swedish fashion ecosystem beyond traditional clothing brands to more experimental approaches to materials and production.

Plick

Plick is doing fashion in a different way. The Swedish company doesn’t produce clothes, it runs a marketplace for the buying and selling of second hand fashion.

The platform makes it easier for consumers to sell unwanted clothes and find second-hand items. This places Plick within Sweden’s growing circular-fashion economy, where extending the life of existing garments is becoming increasingly part of the fashion industry.

Plick’s model also reflects the shifting role of technology in fashion. Digital platforms can directly connect consumers, making it easier to resell and helping clothes to stay in circulation longer. Sweden’s official promotion of its fashion sector mentions Plick as an example of the country’s growing second-hand fashion market.

Sellpy

Another Swedish company that is revolutionising the second hand fashion market is Sellpy. The platform makes resale easier by taking away much of the work involved in selling unwanted clothing from consumers.

Sellpy allows sellers to send their unwanted items to the company, who then takes care of the processes such as sorting, photographing, pricing and listing the products. Buyers can then browse the platform for a large selection of used fashion.

This is convenient, because one of the biggest challenges resale faces is the effort involved in photographing, describing, pricing and shipping individual items. Sellpy is making second hand shopping available to a much larger audience – with a much easier process.

Nudie Jeans

Nudie Jeans is a Swedish denim company started in Gothenburg and is particularly well known for its emphasis on durability, repair and longer garment lives.

Denim is resource intensive to make so a better, more sustainable way of approaching it is to make it last longer. Nudie Jeans has included repair in its customer proposition, encouraging consumers to keep their jeans going rather than just replace them when they get worn.

The brand represents a big shift in fashion: sustainability doesn’t have to mean inventing a whole new material or technology. Sometimes this means designing products that last longer and helping customers keep them in use.

Our Legacy

Our Legacy is an independent Stockholm fashion label established in 2005 by Jockum Hallin, Cristopher Nying and Richardos Klarén. More established than some of the startups on this list, but still an important example of the independent fashion scene in Sweden.

The brand is known for its fabric exploration, reworked silhouettes and a balance of familiar and unconventional design. The collections range from menswear to womenswear and have contributed to the brand’s place as a key player in contemporary fashion.

Our Legacy also demonstrates how a small Swedish indie label can become an international phenomenon while maintaining its identity. Its success has helped make room for new Swedish brands to experiment with different interpretations of Scandinavian fashion.