“Anyone should be able to wear anything” – An exclusive look at Chimi’s first ready-to-wear collection

”We don’t see ourselves as a conventional fashion brand,” says Charlie Lindström. The Chimi co-founder is speaking on the news that the brand is exploring new avenues beyond its eyewear origins.

Launched with the vision to create glasses of uncompromising quality at fairer prices, Chimi have always strived for a high cultural relevance and have “tried to inspire our customers to capture every aspect of a modern active life,” explains Lindström. Having designed some of the fashion industry’s most sought-after eyewear, accessorising both summer holidays with sunglasses and alpine jaunts with ski goggles, the step into ready-to-wear is a natural one.

The new collection stemmed from the idea of going beyond what we conventionally consider a fashion brand. "Rather," Lindström says, "we intend to open up new points of reference—so that we can exist as a platform for our customers to experience and live the culture that every collection is built on.” In other words, Chimi wants to clearly transmit their clear aesthetic no matter what activity or subculture the brand is designing for — “to create a DNA that permeates the entire look,” according to Lindström.

Following the brand’s core concept of merging tech-savviness with sartorial prowess, Chimi’s clothing line challenges the divide between activewear and tailoring. “For me it was a natural path, especially on a personal level,” says Lindström.

He pinpoints being a sports enthusiast (“mainly snowboarding”) and the challenges with balancing health and a heavy workload as some of the reasons why Chimi pursued the new collection. “This in combination with the fact that I grew up in my mother's studio, where she gave me a deep understanding of tailoring early on.” As such, the brand’s ready-to-wear collection aims to strike a balance between design and performance — bringing sportswear into tailoring, and tailoring into sportswear.

Drop one, called Uniform, is an extension of the ‘Prototype’ micro collection that Lindström launched in collaboration with his mother in June this past year. Exploring the balance between form and function, as well as the calibrations of modern life, the collection will take you straight from desk to dinner, or from a weekend getaway to the gym on a Monday morning, without wasting a minute. More importantly, just like Chimi’s unisex eyewear, the ready-to-wear line caters to everyone. “Anyone should be able to wear anything,” Lindström says.

Nodding to ballet and live performance stage creations, the garments are envisioned to endure the intensity of a body in motion. “My first encounter with sewing as a child was when my mother sewed for the ballet in Stockholm,” says Lindström. “In ballet it is very common to have uniforms where most of the garments are stripped down without unnecessary detail, monochrome, but above all sewn with movement in mind.”

The new 20-piece collection is therefore all about ease. Wearability and aesthetical longevity is key: a floor-sweeping scarlet red dress with a sultry open-back is crafted in a sturdy yet breathable jersey fabric. A cropped brown weatherproof set comes with versatile two-way zippers, and a matte silver three-piece ensemble shields the wearer from water and wind in multi-seasonal layers. It is a showcase of the technical sophistication involved in this collection, a sophistication that has become synonymous with Chimi.