Cheap Monday fall/winter 2011 runway show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Stockholm.

Emma Lindblad, a PhD candidate at the Centre for Fashion Studies at Stockholm University, says the high profile of the Swedish fashion industry over the last decade has partly been due to government initiatives prioritizing fashion and design as exports. International markets now constitute a large portion of the sales of Swedish denim brands.

But domestic consumption remains high as well. Habit, a trade publication for the Swedish fashion industry, reported that almost 15 million pairs of jeans were sold between October 2008 and September 2009. As Lindblad puts it, “I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that Sweden is a denim-loving country.”

Denim — from work wear to leisure wear

According to Lindblad, who is doing an ethnographic study of denim and contemporary youth as part of a research initiative called the Global Denim Project, the Swedish denim tradition emerged out of an economy based on large industries such as forestry, agriculture and engineering. “In Sweden, overalls have always had a more significant place within the fashion culture than more festive clothing,” she says.

In the 1940s, denim transitioned from work wear to leisure wear in a country that embraced functional design. “Decades of social democratic rule, favoring gender equality and bringing forward a fashion culture where unisex, functionality and anti-fashion have been strong ideals have also contributed to further anchor denim in the Swedish wardrobe,” Lindblad says.

Popular opening of a new Cheap Monday store. Photo: Cheap Monday

Affordable Cheap Monday

The end of the 1990s and new millennium saw a boom in “trendy and wearable” brands, perhaps the most well-known of which is Cheap Monday. Launched in 2004, the label came under fire in US media due to the supposed anti-Christian messages communicated by its logo, a skull with an upside down cross on the forehead. Cheap Monday’s signature is unwashed, tight-fitted stretch denim at affordable prices.

The brand, acquired by H&M in 2008, is distributed in 1,800 stores in 38 markets, the largest of which include Italy, Australia, Germany and France.

According to Cheap Monday’s chief operating officer Håkan Ström, the interest in Swedish denim is more than a passing trend. “Sweden denim brands have done a good job establishing their position on the international market,” he says. “We also have a feeling for making things pretty easy and clean.”

Although denim is still the biggest part of their business, Ström explains that Cheap Monday has become more “conceptual” over the last few years.

“In the beginning, we were very synonymous with tight and skinny denim,” he says. “When we came to the market, the timing was perfect and we filled a gap with our tight jeans. That gave us a great platform on which to build credibility in other products as well.” In the fall 2011 Cheap Monday will be introducing footwear and underwear lines.

Swedish denim in US stores

Kevin Tilton, senior buyer of women’s apparel at Urban Outfitters in the United States, says that Urban Outfitters has sold Cheap Monday products since 2003. “We feel strongly that the Cheap Monday designs and prices are a great match with our customer. The brand brings us fashion-forward styles that our customer comes to us looking for,” Tilton says, adding that the Cheap Monday “second skin fit” increased interest in the Urban Outfitters brand in 2010.

 
Nudie presents “the naked truth about denim.” Photos: Nudie Jeans

In fall 2011, Urban Outfitters will be introducing additional Swedish denim brands, including The Local Firm. Tilton explains they are expanding their assortment of Swedish designer brands, above and beyond denim. In addition to Cheap Monday and The Local Firm, they will be carrying Carin Wester, Minimarket, Dagmar and Rodebjer.

Nudie Jeans and Dr. Denim

Cheap Monday is not alone in the Swedish denim market. Gothenburg-based Nudie Jeans is present in 25 markets with a growing export business. They operate a number of shop-in-shops as well as several retail stores outside of Sweden. Their biggest markets in terms of volume are the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Sweden and Japan.

Andreas Åhrman, sales and marketing director at Nudie Jeans, points out the importance of their home market. “To, us the Swedish denim market is extremely important because it’s our home market and a lot of denim trends are invented in Sweden. When we launch a new fit or more innovative washings, the Swedish market picks up immediately, which works as a good playground for us to see what kind of products and concepts work.”

Founded in 2001 by Maria Erixon Levin and Joakim Levin, Nudie Jeans bills itself as “the naked truth about denim,” and the brand is built on values like longevity, personality and character.

 
Dr. Denim claims that it's "the mix of design and denim" that makes Swedish denim brands so successful. Photos: Dr. Denim

Dr. Denim, founded in 2003, is another Swedish jeans label that has established itself within this growing segment. Designer Alexander Graah, one of the brothers behind Dr. Denim, says that “the mix of design and denim in a credible and sophisticated manner” is what sets Swedish brands apart.

“We are positioned as a premium-price alternative, meaning that we are essentially an affordable premium brand. The collection blends a contemporary Swedish interpretation of denim with a directional fashion line, changing the paradigm of what a denim label should look like,” Graah says.

And what does a Swedish denim label look like? While Lindblad at Stockholm’s Centre for Fashion Studies says it’s difficult to pinpoint a unified national design identity, “democratic fashion, authenticity and ethics” have been at the core of many of these Swedish jeans brands.

Charlotte West

Charlotte West is an American freelance writer who lived in the Swedish capital of Stockholm for almost seven years. She writes about fashion and design — particularly the Swedish kind — for a number of publications in the United States and Europe. She recently returned to her homeland, but she misses the country of knäckebröd and sleek design. Charlotte does not, however, miss the skinny jeans.

The author alone is responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.