I Just Got Back From Oslo, and Now I'm Obsessed With These 7 Norwegian Brands

Photo:

Courtesy of Envelope1976

Like many of our favorite fashion brands—think Musier Paris, LouLou Studio, and Rotate—Envelope1976 was co-founded by an industry alum, specifically, editor and influencer Celine Aagaard. In partnership with Pia Nordskaug, the CEO of Norwegian sustainable clothing manufacturer eco.logic, Aagaard set out to make sustainable fashion that didn't look like sustainable fashion (especially in the late '10s). Utilizing her experience in fashion, not to mention her own minimal-cool aesthetic, Envelope1976 was born.

In the four years since it launched, the brand has already seen widespread success, specifically on the international market having been picked up by Net-a-Porter as part of the luxury retailer's NET SUSTAIN edit. But with this season marking its first-ever runway show, it's not hard to see how much more is yet to come for Aagaard's budding label, which at the moment, still only employs four people, the founders included. 

For the show, Aagaard passed on creating something brand new for spring, choosing instead to release never-before-seen pieces that wouldn't feed into fashion's seasonal schedule. She also tried to forgo what she calls "show pieces" in an effort to display the wearability of every piece. "What we wanted to do was show that you can mix them and wear them each differently, and also be seasonless and genderless, so anyone can wear them all year round," she told me, gesturing toward a jacket meant to be worn with a dress at Christmas and a swimsuit in the summer, backstage following the show. According to Aagaard, all of the pieces in the collection were designed to be "cool with an edge, but still wearable," which couldn't describe Envelope1976 as a whole any better.

Photo:

Courtesy of ESP

In 2015, Elisabeth Stray Pedersen took over a 60-year-old outerwear factory in Oslo in order to launch a brand of her own, ESP. In the seven years since, Pedersen's namesake label has become known for its signature wool blanket coats, which she creates using only Norwegian lambswool from Gol. But outerwear isn't all the designer focuses on, and for spring, she went with a brighter color palette—including vibrant shades of green, blue, and pink—and innovative shapes, with the goal of the collection to mimic her own desire for change and experimentation.

"My familial aesthetic—I'd describe it as bougie Norwegian—is a consistent source of inspiration," Pedersen tells me before the show. "But coming from that, I think you become interested in being a bit more rebellious as a designer. I'm always trying to find myself, and asking myself, 'Am I that or can I be something more experimental?' So, [this season] was kind of those world's meeting." According to her, S/S 23 was all about identity—who she is now and who she wants to be.

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ImaxTree/Holzweiler

Sister-and-brother duo Susanne and Andreas Holzweiler founded their eponymous brand in Oslo a decade ago, starting with luxurious scarves and ready-to-wear and eventually becoming arguably the biggest, most notable fashion brand in Norway. For spring '23, which Holzweiler showcased during Copenhagen Fashion Week, the team focused on the human body, specifically the way clothes move as we do. 

Ten years after its launch, the co-founders of Holzweiler are entering a new stage, with the brand having recently secured a generous investment from the Chinese firm Sequoia Capital, allowing them to further the growth phase they've been building throughout its life. "This is an exciting opportunity to accelerate our brand to the next level—what we are framing as, Holzweiler 2.0," Susanne explains. 

Photo:

Courtesy of Ilag

Translated to "together" in Norwegian, Ilag is one of Oslo's newest brands, founded in 2020 by creative director Renate Nipe. Known for its use of bright colors and light, billowy shapes, the brand's ethos is all about wearable, fun attire for everyday that are also sustainable. 

That said, Nipe's S/S 23 collection came from a mindset that was anything but lighthearted and fun. Titled VÆRE ILAG, meaning “be together,” the collection was designed in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, leading the designer to struggle to find the beauty and joy necessary to create the uplifting garments she's becoming known for. In the end, with the support of those around her, Nipe chose to carry on and design a selection of pieces that were the antithesis of everything going on. “In a turbulent world, I wanted to create a collection that symbolizes the opposite—freedom and joy” Nipe said in a press release.

Photo:

Courtesy of One and Other

Since founding One and Other in 2015, Lene Henriksen has succeeded in exactly what she set out to do: Develop a luxury brand that showcases the classic and minimal aesthetic that Nordic people are known for in a sustainable and high-quality way. She's built up such a good reputation, in fact, that this season, practically every Scandinavian influencer and editor was spotted inside and outside of her show, which took place at One and Other's sunlit showroom, located in the city's old Acne Studios flagship store. 

"To us, the perfect garment equals high quality paired with a minimized footprint," Henriksen said in a press release for her spring/summer collection, which she noted was likewise inspired by balance. "Built around surprising opposites, reimagined fabric techniques, and contrasting elements of shape and form, S/S 23 unifies diverse themes and achieves a sense of calm, manifested through sensuality, tactility and, ultimately, practicality," the release continued. "The overall look is clean and minimalistic, but elements like pleating, curved cutouts and ruching add soft volume and structure."

Photo:

Courtesy of Livid

Jens Olav Dankertsen started Livid all on his own back in 2010, with the goal to produce high-quality denim using only the best, most sustainable materials. It's changed a lot since then, with an expansion into seasonal ready-to-wear collections for men and women, but the brand's original values—"materiality, transparency, and unwillingness to compromise," according to Dankertsen—have remained the same. 

These days, Dankertsen is focused on balancing style, quality, and values for Livid, and ensuring that the brand's customers know everything that goes into producing their jeans. "Our denim is Japanese, and all our production is in Portugal," he says. "Every angle of our production is considered." In other words, if you're looking for jeans you can feel good about, Livid should be your first stop. 

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Courtesy of Cala Jade

Where you see one Cala Jade bag or accessory in Oslo, a dozen more will follow. "That is so fun that you noticed," says co-founder Tina Cecilie Skaar. Skaar, in partnership with Elise Kleiva Ugland, launched the now-ubiquitous leathers brand back in 2007 with the hope that they could create accessories for everyday life. Durability, timelessness, and style have all played a role in that, which explains why Cala Jade bags have become such a mainstay in Norway. 

This season, Ugland and Skaar found inspiration in oysters, hosting their spring presentation at one of Oslo's newest and buzziest oyster bars, where their shellfish-shaped buckles (featured on both bags and belts) were on display. Their catchphrase for the collection? "Smooth as a sea breeze and hopefully as fresh as an oyster shot," Skaar shares. As for the future, Skaar and Ugland are excited to introduce Cala Jade footwear sometime soon. That, and expand their reach outside of Oslo whilst maintaining their fanbase at home. "We hope Cala Jade will still will be walking the streets here at home in all of Scandinavia, but also taking the leap and walking the streets of other cities," Skaar says.