Take a walk through Swedish history with the new collection
Tiger of Sweden’s AW23 collection takes us back in time. Not to a single moment, mind you, but straight through the decades. It’s a fitting occasion for a walk down memory lane – this year marks 120 years since the Swedish heritage brand was founded. “It was kind of romantic, looking back and thinking, ‘120 years, what has happened in that period?’” says Tiger’s creative director Bryan Conway.
Conway drew inspiration from two Swedish institutions representing two vastly different eras: The Royal Palace and Kulturhuset. Built in 1697, Sweden’s palace is, as Conway puts it, “super maximal”. “It could be in France. You go inside the palace and you’re just smacked in the face with this baroque world.” On the other end of the spectrum – but just a short walk away – is Kulurhuset. Erected in 1974, the culture house is “functional and minimal”.
The collection explores this dichotomy – the austere and classical, versus the clean and minimal; a dichotomy that has been present throughout the brand’s history. “It was about breaking the rules and throwing things together and having fun,” Conway says. Practically, this means everything from relaxed double-breasted suiting to the super skinny trousers of the noughties (an ode to Tiger’s ongoing relationship with Swedish indie it-band The Hives). There are classic wool coats with exaggerated lapels and subtle kick-flares. Relaxed jumpsuits and skinny ties. Something for everyone, really – the decades via silhouette. “The one through line is that there is no through line,” says Conway, simply.
Meanwhile, the patterns are lifted directly from the architecture of the two iconic buildings – a classic checkerboard from the floors of the palace, a more modern diamond pattern from the tiling of Kulturhuset’s roof.
All this purposeful nostalgia, blended together, feels wonderfully, if unexpectedly, current. After all – everything old eventually becomes new again. “It’s really a celebration,” says Conway. “It’s really about how to make a contemporary wardrobe and fun ways of wearing it.”
See the full collection below:
Tiger of Sweden AW23
