Did You Hear? Stockholm Fashion Week Has Been Cancelled!

The Swedish Fashion Council is now focusing on creating tools and platforms that support and prepare the industry for the future.

In past months, we have written a lot about Sweden. This is because we are loving how Sweden has been flexing its innovation capabilities to improve the way their fashion industry does business. So when they got in touch with me this week to share their news that the organisation supporting the Swedish Fashion Industry was going to cancel Stockholm Fashion Week, I wasn’t shocked. They have been heading towards this direction for a while now, so it wasn’t a matter of “if”, but a matter of “when”.

Cancelled Due to the Future

Although it sounds like quite a dramatic move by the fashionable Swedes, they do have a good reason behind what others might call madness; they want to create a consistent market format that better matches the industry’s needs in the ongoing paradigm shift.

“they do have a good reason behind what others might call madness!”

On the bi-annual event, which was scheduled to take place 27th to 29th of August, Jennie  Rosén, CEO at Swedish Fashion Council said: “Stepping away from the conventional Fashion Week model has been a difficult, but much-considered decision.” She continues: “We need to put the past to rest and stimulate the development of a platform that is relevant for today’s fashion industry. The Fashion Week format has been discussed extensively within the industry over the past years. Now it is time to make a difference if we are to maintain Swedish fashions’ strong position and to accelerate on its great success. Swedish Fashion Council will focus on creating tools and platforms to support and prepare the industry for the future.”  

Jennie  Rosén, CEO at Swedish Fashion Council has admitted that stepping away from the conventional Fashion Week model has been a difficult, but that it was a much-considered decision.

If the fashion industry is to survive with the planet, we must oversee volumes and develop new business models.  The ongoing paradigm shift, driven by digitization, creates enormous challenges for the fashion industry that require urgent attention. If the fashion industry is to survive with the planet, we must oversee volumes and develop new business models. To progress the transformation, the fashion industry requires market-relevant branding formats that generate new revenue streams, and innovation for sustainable development through cross-sector collaborations.

“Stepping away from the conventional Fashion Week model has been a difficult, but much-considered decision.”

Swedish Fashion Council, therefore, takes a strategic turn and puts all efforts into facilitating this transformation and the development of the fashion industry into a new era.   In 2018 Swedish Fashion Council revealed the CTF AWARD for emerging designers, the result of an unexpected collaboration with the forest industry and related fabric producers, initiated by leading partner Ekman & Co. The award was the first one to focus on the entire supply chain, from raw material to design, in the context of sustainable development.  

Most recently Swedish Fashion Council initiated the Fashion Innovation Center. The independent accelerator supports Swedish and international fashion brands to innovate and digitize their business model and infrastructure. Furthermore, knowledge-based courses have been set up globally with leading fashion universities including London College of Fashion, Fashion Institute of Technology, Institut Francais de la Mode and the Swedish School of Textiles, to prepare the next generation of fashion professionals. 

ALSO READ: Simon Hjelte on Encouraging Fashion Tech Innovation & Growth in Sweden

  In autumn 2019 Swedish Fashion Council will present the full scope of the new strategy and the reorganization. “The Swedish Fashion Industry is extensive and growing, so it is crucial to support brands in its development of next-generation fashion experiences. By doing this we can adapt to new demands, reach sustainability goals, and be able to set new standards for fashion,” says Jennie Rosén. They will also relaunch the renowned Fashion Talents incubator program. 

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Founding editor-in-chief of FashNerd.com, Muchaneta is currently one of the leading influencers writing about the merger of fashion with technology and wearable technology. She has also given talks at Premiere Vision, Munich Fabric Start and Pure London, to name a few. Besides working as a fashion innovation consultant for various fashion companies like LVMH Atelier, Muchaneta has also contributed to Vogue Business, is a senior contributor at The Interline and an associate lecturer at London College of Fashion, UAL.