Why It Took Toteme 12 Years to Try Menswear
Menswear has always been on Toteme co-founder Karl Lindman's mind. But first, there was the archetypal “Toteme woman” to sort out — a long, 12-year project that’s proven incredibly successful for the Scandi-meets-NYC label.
Over this stretch, both Lindman and his wife and co-founder, former Swedish fashion journalist Elin Kling, have staked out a sweet spot in a refined luxury market occupied by the likes of Khaite and The Row. With architecturally sculpted pieces like the signature scarf coat with an attached wraparound scarf panel, plus more than two dozen gallery-like stores, Toteme has become a favored brand for the highbrow art crowd. (One of its first design influences came not from fashion, but from the precise Minimalist art of Donald Judd.)
The debut of its first menswear collection — released with a simple Instagram video rather than on the runway — might shake up that image. Lindman has quietly been working with designer Alexander Häggblad, a Hedi Slimane-era Celine alum, to build out a new wardrobe of menswear essentials.
Whereas Toteme womenswear is almost cerebrally precise, fit for the kind of powerful women who gravitate toward the brand, the man is “a bit more undone.” So says Lindman, during a rare interview. “His style is classic, but not stiff; it's considered, but also lived-in.”
After over a decade spent refining the womenswear side (which now generates around €200 million, or around $230 million, in annual sales), the Toteme Man has finally emerged, rumpled but crisp. Ahead of the collection's second collection release in stores this Thursday, September 17, we spoke with Lindman about this long-anticipated expansion into menswear, including the small details that set it apart from the pack.
It's been a few weeks since the collection launched, so it's still early days, but what's been the biggest surprise in how customers have responded?
What’s been really nice to see is both men and women buying the collection. We always wanted menswear to have its own identity, but for the two wardrobes to live alongside each other, so seeing that happen already feels very natural.
It's been over a decade since you started the brand — why was now the right time for menswear? What made this feel right for you personally?
Elin and I always felt there was room for menswear, but we wanted to focus on our woman first — to really define her and her wardrobe, and the thinking behind it. About a year or two ago, we decided to give menswear a real shot and bring it into the brand. Looking back, I'm glad we waited, because when you start a brand, less is more in some ways; it's good to have something specific to focus on.
We've been working for over a year to develop not just the collection, but to set the pace moving forward. I see this menswear launch as a starting point. It's the first building block of something that will develop over a long period of time. I want the collection to speak for itself and gradually bring in our customer. Let him discover Toteme on his own terms. I'd rather it feel organic and easy, more like the way I like to shop. I want to form my own opinion.
Post-launch, has that approach played out the way you hoped?
Yes, I think it has. Toteme has always been about discovery. We didn’t feel the need to make a big announcement around menswear or suddenly communicate differently just because we were entering a new category. The project should feel authentic and honest. We wanted to put the collection into the world and let people find it. There’s probably something quite Swedish about that.
I feel like men shop differently than women do. They're two different kinds of customers.
That's exactly how we've approached this project. Elin and I are married and share a set of values with Toteme, but just because we share that doesn't mean we dress the same way. We wanted to approach this in a completely new way: we turned everything around and built a new menswear design team, with its own production and sourcing. The end goal is to meet somewhere in the middle, where our visions combine, but they don't come from the same source. It's almost like a startup within the company.
A few pieces directly reference the women's archive, like the scarf coat. How did you decide what deserved a nod to womenswear versus what should be entirely original to menswear?
It grew out of Alex going through our womenswear archive. He fell in love with certain pieces. The scarf jacket has become something of a signature for us, so we asked ourselves: could that translate to menswear? We felt that it could. So we've borrowed or translated some products from women's to men's.
There's also this idea of a silhouette. The fall collection is a little more slender, more narrow. We've developed some great denim in Japan, and paired it with petite cardigans that feel almost like something you'd borrow from your girlfriend. It looks good, it looks very cool, and it feels new — maybe not exactly what people expect from us.
With your puffer, there’s a historic map of Sweden on the lining. Can you talk about small details like that?
We explored a connection to Swedish military apparel. Pilots originally used the map to find their way back if they had to parachute out. I love hidden details. We do a great leather jacket, but the lining is tweed that feels like something from your grandfather's wardrobe. We make shearling winter coats inspired by coats used during the Finnish War against the Russians. We've tried to draw inspiration from our heritage. The collection has a utilitarian, practical element that traces back to Sweden and our heritage.
What do you bring to the brand from your own experience shopping?
I'm very nerdy when I shop, and I tend to stick with certain brands. The biggest challenge in earning a male customer's trust is answering: why would you buy your trousers, jeans, knitwear, underwear or even T-shirts from us? You have to educate people and focus on making genuinely good products; it becomes a word-of-mouth, friend-to-friend effect. That's how Toteme has always operated. We've never had the biggest billboards or celebrity dressing. We've kept our heads down and focused on developing great products.
I’m quite picky and have certain brands I go to: Levi's for jeans, certain tailors for coats. I'm always comparing what we do with what I think is the best. And honestly? I'm rarely fully satisfied. I'm my own worst enemy, but I think that's a good thing, because it means we're always trying hard to get the fit and quality right. It should deserve a place in a guy's wardrobe — and I think it does.
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