Industry revenue of retail sale of clothing in specialised stores in Sweden 2011-2023

These are particularly good times for the Swedish fashion industry with most of the domestic brands such as H&M, Stadium, Whyred, Acne, Dagmar, Hope, Filippa K and Cheap Monday, enjoying record sales and profits. Even though the Swedish fashion weeks are not quite up there with the ones in Milan, London and Paris, they are steadily gaining traction with the international community, as more and more fashion journalists attend the events each year. This has contributed in no small measure to the fast growing fashion export sector, with the US, China, Japan, Germany and South Korea being the top five importers. The country’s retail sales of clothing are expected to remain steady over the next few years growing from 6.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 to 6.5 billion U.S. dollars by 2023.

Sustainable fashion on the rise

As is the case in many countries in the developed world, Sweden is making big strides in the world of sustainable fashion. Filippa K, one of the major players in this segment, launched its Filippa K Lease service which allows garments from the previous season to be rented out at first and eventually resold. Nudie Jeans on the other hand work only with a select group of suppliers that adhere to their strict guidelines concerning sustainability.