The Secret Swedish Brand Scandi Bloggers Swear By Has Finally Arrived In London | InStyle.co.uk

Published on InStyle.co.uk, 17th August 2017

It's the Scandi brand we've been crushing on for years. First appearing on our fashion radar thanks to bloggers like Stephanie Gundelach and Maja Wyh, we've been double tapping Weekday's Insta ever since. Founded in Stockholm in 2002, Weekday is part of the H&M group and, with 27 stores across Europe, it's been the main reason why we've been checking in a case on budget flights when returning from Sweden or Denmark for years.

However, finally, it's arrived to the UK and tomorrow (18th of August) marks its debut on London's Regent St with the opening of its first ever London store. I headed there for a sneak preview and to meet with the brand's Creative Director, Louise Lasson who showed me around.

Spread over two floors, upstairs you'll find womenswear and denim, while downstairs sits even more womenswear alongside menswear. Denim is a key part of Weekday's success, with a myriad of styles to suit every shape. 'We work with the concept of Monday-Sunday,' explains Louise. 'So you'll find several styles from super skinnies to high-waisted and within each style different washes too.' Unusually, for a high-street store, there is an in-house tailor, who if a customer wants can ask to tweak the length of a pair jeans or even just fray a raw edged hem. Sitting alongside the tailor you'll find a screen-printer who, each week, creates t-shirts for the brand's popular Zeitgeist project – a weekly drop of store-made t-shirts designed in response to cultural events, from the political 'Make The UK Europe Again' to the tongue-in-cheek 'Beyonce's Twins are Geminis.'

The London store will also give shoppers a first exclusive look at the brand’s AW17 collection. Featuring shearling coats, cheery knits and chunky hiking boots, and with prices starting from £30 for jeans, this isn't going to hang around for long. Here Louise explains how to nail the Weekday look...

What was your inspiration for AW17?

We started looking at the film Fantastic Planets from 1973. It’s quite abstract so we wanted to achieve that feeling working with a lot of different materials and create a new super-futuristic look and interpret that into the Weekday aesthetic which is always about being a powerful minimalist.

The prints are really unusual too...

We were  blown away by the work of landscape photographer Nadav Kander. He looks at the impact human beings have on nature and has shot at places like Chernobyl where nature has begun to come back from the destruction. So there is a dark side from that but also more playful elements from the movie so we merged the two. It’s more mixed than we usually have.

How does Weekday differ to its sister brands like H&M and & Other Stories?

We focus on denim and fashion and what the Weekday aesthetic is. We work a lot with contrasts and dynamics. Say if we do a new silhouette like a voluminous dress in a more luxe fabric, then we'll style it with denim. Or we'll feature a luxe fabric but use it for a really simple shaped dress or top.  So it's all about contrast and mixing. We have our aesthetic and there are always key pieces like our denim and leather which are at the heart of the brand.

So is the Weekday style quite minimalist?

I think Scandi style itself is minimalist, like what are the essentials and what is the function of it? I think that is the grounding of it. And I think more people are longing for this way of thinking and making sense in your life.  But I also think in those times you need to play a little bit more with colours and shapes. I think lots of brands and designers are doing this. We have always done this from the beginning, it's all about the balance, that minimalist look with a powerful dynamic.

What three items are essential to getting the Weekday look?

A pair of jeans. Just pick your favourite and what works best for your body. The Ace is selling really well at the moment. It's more of a straight style rather than skinny. Then team that with a tee from our Zeitgeist project and throw a leather jacket over it.  

Tell us more the Zeitgeist project?

We have a screen-printing studio in-store where we make t-shirts each week. We pick current topics that are happening in society, design them on Monday, print them on a Thursday and they go on sale on a Friday. Once they sell out they're gone.  It's an amazing tool for us to be able to talk about topics and create awareness around them. It could be anything from politics and equality to Beyonce and Game of Thrones.  I think it’s an amazing way of working and for us it sits together with our aesthetic and also gives the buyer the opportunity to wear a statement.

You're big into sustainability too...

Yes, all our denim is made of organic or recycled cotton. All our basic cotton tees are sustainable too and this spring we made an entire collection of swimwear from recycled polyester. I always make the team focus on sustainability in the design process too. I want them to think even if we do a piece that is fashionable or limited you should be able to wear it for several seasons, it should last for a long time and you should be able to wear it in different ways. Although we are on the high street we want to inspire people and think that actually things should last.