Swedish Fashion Council cancels Stockholm Fashion Week

Stockholm will no longer have a fashion week to call its own. The Swedish Fashion Council has cancelled the event for the foreseeable future, citing the “major challenges” faced by the fashion industry today. The next edition of Stockholm Fashion Week was scheduled to take place on August 27-29.

“[Stockholm] Fashion Week, like the fashion industry as a whole, is facing major challenges to meet the demands for sustainability, innovation, relevance and timing”, explained Jennie Rosén, CEO of the Swedish Fashion Council, in a press release. “Several studies indicate this, yet the industry remains in limbo, which misguides the Swedish fashion scene. That’s why we need to change now to steer the industry in the right direction”.

Moving forward, the Swedish Fashion Council intends to help the industry build the fashion experience of the future. The organization said it wants to develop tools to help companies digitize their operations, reach sustainability goals and adopt innovative business models such as rental, clothing repair and subscription services. The organization is also planning on relaunching an accelerator program for startups. A new strategy will be unveiled in the fall of 2019, according to the press release.

Stockholm Fashion Week has long lived in the shadow of its neighbor, Copenhagen Fashion Week, which takes place a few weeks earlier and attracts a larger amount of Scandinavian brands.