The Digital Rise of Scandinavian Fashion
With the Scandinavian Fashion Weeks just finishing, it's hard to miss the street style pictures popping up on your Instagram feed. Bloggers and influencers alike dressed in a perfect mixture of clean, sharp lines and colorful textures and patterns, inviting questions like "Who is she?" and "Where can I get that outfit?". What exactly is Scandinavian fashion? Scandinavian style is minimalist by nature but adds a personal twist to the basic formula of dressing that Parisians strictly adhere to. It's how a Scandinavian puts together an outfit versus what they might actually wear that draws the fashion industry's eye to countries like Denmark and Sweden.
Parisians tend to stick to tradition, especially in the way their manner of dress. AUP Senior Annabella Hutter spends her summers in Sweden and counts the city as home. Hutter has been in Paris since 2014 and noticed that French women stick to their own style and have yet to completely adapt to the Scandinavian way of dressing. She elaborates, "When you go out [in Stockholm or Copenhagen], for example, you won't dress up as much. It will be based on a neutral palette but still feminine. I think that's an element that has trickled down into the Parisian style." The element of simplicity and subtle femininity is prevalent in both Parisian and Scandinavian styles. Their differences lie in experimentation- Parisians tend not to stray from their love of tradition and a "less is more" approach, whereas the Scandinavians are willing to play with color, patterns, and layering.
To Hutter, the 'typical' Scandinavian outfit is all about practicality: "It's a lot about comfort in Sweden - from a young age dress is based around comfortable denim, cotton tees - nothing revealing. They've always been original and true to their dress style. Anything that's uncomfortable is not an option." Hutter also emphasizes that the color palette of Scandinavian style is influenced by the combination of the city and forest landscapes. "Women base themselves around elements of nature - all the neutrals come from the neutrality of life in Sweden."
Recently, with the continuous rise of Instagram influencers and bloggers, Scandinavian "It Girls" have taken advantage of social media platforms to grow their personal brands and promote labels from their home country and their personal labels. Two examples of such bloggers are Pernille Teisbæk and Anine Bing. Teisbæk, from Denmark, broadcasts her unique Scandi style to 521k Instagram followers and is also the co-founder of influencer talent agency Social Zoo.
The other notable Scandinavian style icon is Anine Bing. Her style is more minimal and straight-forward than Teisbæk's, taking a more French approach to dressing. The 35-year-old Danish mother-of-two has her own clothing line under the same name "Anine Bing". Her store in the Marais that is well-frequented by stylish Parisians looking to update their staple wardrobe pieces.
Where there are Scandinavian Instagram "It Girls" there are also Scandinavian Instagram "It Brands". The Scandinavian "It Brand" having their moment is the Danish mid-market label Ganni. The effortless and natural styles are frequently seen on women biking around Copenhagen wearing their favorite sneakers with the eye-catching and notorious frilly Ganni dresses. The label came out of the recent Instagram boom which has catapulted young brands to stardom when featured on influencer or celebrity profiles. Having gained traction and press for their Spring/Summer 2016 season, Ganni now immediately sells out at online retailers like Net-A-Porter, MyTheresa, and ASOS.
Thanks to Instagram, it is hard to escape these Scandi cool girls. They make dressing look effortless and everything they own is extremely wearable, yet it's how they put their specific pieces together that truly create their signature style. The rise of Danish labels like Ganni, with Scandinavian "It Girls" as their fan base, are paving the way for fun and different brands to make it in an industry where cities like New York, London, and Paris have held court for many years.