Spending a mere five minutes inside the & Other Stories Stockholm atelier is enough to make you fall in love with Scandinavian design all over again (as if you could ever dislike it!). Everything from the bohemian-chic textiles to the expertly curated mood boards are the absolute epitome of *goals*, and it’s not surprising given that the brand itself is everything we want to wear lately. In case you haven’t been paying close attention, the European company has slowly infiltrated the US market—and our closets—over the past few years with its fashion-forward designs, stellar price point, and attention to detail and ambience in its stores.
Now that & Other Stories—which already carries clothing, shoes, bags, and accessories—is expanding into the beauty realm this month, we realized it was time to visit our favorite of the three ateliers—although Paris and Los Angeles are not far behind. Based in Stockholm and located next to one of the many waterways that thread through the city, the space houses its Swedish design team, among other departments. Caroline Björkholm, the head of Creative Lab, and Anna Nyrén, head of Co-labs, showed us around the bustling atelier and even let us peek inside the infamous tower with 360-degree views of the surrounding city. It’s incredible, to say the least. After snapping a million pictures of the pastel waterfront buildings (where locals sometimes take an afternoon dip on their summer lunch breaks!), we couldn’t wait to learn more about how the brand is tackling its new beauty launch and latest collaboration with Kim Gordon, as well as what makes the Stockholm atelier so unique from its international counterparts.
The mission behind & Other Stories:
“We call ourselves the one-stop styling destination. I think the aim has always been to inspire and have a no-rule policy when it comes to fashion. We are truly inspired by people’s individual style and [how they] put [outfits] together. Our three collections are designed in Paris, L.A., and Stockholm, [each] with its own unique identity and visual style, and that allows the customer—the modern woman of today—to find stuff that she loves. That’s why we’re called & Other Stories—to [create] even more possibilities to express yourself however you want to do it.”
Why they are committed to transparency as a company:
“We really want to show all of the work and the love that goes into [the brand], so that’s why we want to welcome people to our atelier and to see things not only [in stores], but let people understand the design process that goes into all the garments and the level of detail in every piece. We’ve always been more interested in the behind-the-scenes of things, rather than [a] perfectly polished final fashion show or shoot. The process of making those things is always exciting.”
How the mix of Stockholm, Paris, and L.A. makes the perfect brand:
“Stockholm is a bit more minimal, but still innovative. I think we look at the detailing and the tailoring and new materials and all of those things, so there’s always constant innovation. But that in combination with Paris being bohemian and a bit more flirty [and] playful—that has always been such an interesting mix for us. Also, [we love] working together with the Parisians. We have a fantastic designer that works in Paris, and every time she comes here, you can hear her coming through the room—jewelry all over. Adding L.A. has also been really interesting. That’s more of a feminine and sexy. That you can create your own personal style out of these three fairly different aesthetics is what makes [the brand] beautiful.”
On their newest collaboration with the iconic Kim Gordon:
“We have a history of working with interesting and inspiring women. Kim Gordon is super inspiring [and] empowering. A female in a rock ’n’ roll world probably hasn’t always been so easy. She’s very true to who she is, [especially] as an artist. She treated our products as sort of a blank canvas and applied the artwork where she felt they were best [suited]. She’s also spot-on when it comes to our mission of empowering female entrepreneurs.”
How they created the new cosmetics line:
“The ingredients are all sourced in France, only working with French suppliers, which was quite a challenge, and it’s all natural ingredients. It’s already like an impossible mission to do a natural beauty collection, but we really wanted to stay true to our French heritage. [Also], not jeopardizing the quality—that was really important.”
Why & Other Stories stores are always so beautiful:
“When it comes to a store, it needs to feel almost like a home. That’s the heart of it. It’s so nice to bring back the beauty of an old building [for example]. We have a lot of respect for the heritage and the history [of] a building. [For the design], the handmade and personal things are super important to everyone working here; that’s why we wanted to take care of the locations we move into [like an] old theater in Madrid from the 1920s or 30s. Mostly it comes [down] to the stories [of the space]. It needs to have a personal, genuine touch to it.”
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