Stockholm based fashion house Tiger of Sweden has been mastering the art of tailoring and luxury craftsmanship since 1903; now, with the introduction of new Design Director, Bryan Conway, their future looks brighter than ever.
Having come from JW Anderson and Burberry, Conway has seen how both these brands have gone from almost untouchable luxury to much more inclusive, welcoming, and approachable brands, gaining influence with a much more relevant and youthful audience.
With Conway's first collection Tiger of Sweden has taken solid steps in the right direction. Their SS21 offering blends many key aspects of what the brand excels at, relaxed and modern tailoring made to be worn repeatedly. These are not one-off showpieces for the odd occasion but a collection of items designed to accompany you on your life's journey.
Conway comments in the brand's seasonal journal "Ways of Seeing", "There is no offer of answers, no one right way, just a point of view. To me, the richness of life is in the absence of certainties. One person will gaze on an object and see something the person next to them will not; each of us has a lens through which we see, a lens brought with us, built up over time. It blurs, distorts, shapes what appears before us, and makes this view wholly 'ours".
The statement is wholly representative of how Conway has taken on his first collection. He has viewed the brand in a new light. While not transforming their narrative he has made thoughtful tweaks and re-interpretations to Tiger of Swedens offering to create a collection that wistfully eases the brand into 2021 with an air of laid back sophistication. These are clothes you can wear and make your own; they will not wear you.
The inspiration for Conway's first collection with Tiger of Sweden plays into this idea of seeing things in a new way. Not just because this is his first foray into designing with the brand, but because of its core inspiration. During Conway's first design trips with the team, before travel bans and lockdowns, they explored parts of Italy frequented by poets and artists during the post-renaissance period as part of their 'Grand Tour'. The Grand Tour served as a journey of discovery for these artists when new perspectives on science, religion, art, design, and philosophy were all starting to emerge. Serendipitously Conway's discovery and re-evaluation trip happened just before the modern world went through its own paradigm shift in thinking. Luckily for Tiger of Sweden, the collection that emerged from this is considered, comfortable and wearable, showing its flair with subtleties. In a time when lavish one-off purchases are way past their sell-by date, this is a collection that feels very 2021.
Natural tones and prints inspired by the crumbling marble that epitomizes that post-renaissance period where the glossy statues of past rulers, gods, and philosophers started to slowly be tarnished by the elements feature across the collection very much showing the designers inspiration in full view. More subtle are the fresh cuts on tailored Tiger of Sweden classics and the relaxed suiting (in a time, a suit needs to feel as comfortable as a french-terry two-piece). Staple silhouettes that have been long taken for granted have been looked at from a fresh perspective transforming the context of how to wear them. A welcome addition is the new interpretation of the Tiger of Sweden White shirt, a classic brand staple through the years that deserves to and could very well become as roll off the tongue as the Levis Jean or the Gucci Loafer.
Tiger of Sweden shot the collection with photographer Stefan Dotter in Athens amongst the marble quarries and ruins whose patina has beautifully aged over time- adding a feeling of timelessness that also runs through each garment.
Scroll through the lookbook above and explore the whole collection here.
