STOCKHOLM,AUGUST 31, 2018
by LAIRD BORRELLI-PERSSON for Vogue.com

    It’s difficult to imagine two brands further apart on the menswear spectrum than Lazoschmidl and L’Homme Rouge. The former celebrates (homo)eroticism and camp with glee (cat-face corsets, anyone?), but it’s the latter brand, with its low-key, shoe-gazing vibe that might be more provoking in its advocacy of the soul-searching sensitive man, especially when blatant, often macho, logoism is all the rage. “Fragility,” says Jonatan Härngren, “is what I think menswear really needs.” To that end, the designer often works with smooth fabrics that he hopes will impart a sense of calmness to the wearer.

For Spring, printed silks loosely referenced mid-century furnishing fabrics by Josef Frank. Other touches borrowed from home were taken from curtains and tablecloths, in the form of a stand-out lacy ivory sweater. Like several other Stockholm-based designers this season (Rodebjer, Acne Studios x Fjällräven), Härngren explored his Swedishness. “I want to push where we are from, but in small steps, so I took elements from the Swedish home, and I also took inspiration from old furniture prints,” he explains.

More direct were the designer's references to the Swedish Sea Scouts (think Boy Scouts who sail); their presence was felt in patches, scarves, and hats. A checked trench featured a wavy back flap inspired by the sea. The palette of “DIY colors” was the result of Härngren imagining the scouts on an island dyeing their own garments and is intentionally a bit off as he was looking for an “expression of imperfection.” Though the designer was speaking about colors specifically, this phrase sums up his very personal approach to fashion, which is no less than a questioning of identity. “We’re always trying to find who we are, and that I think is really interesting because we’re always changing,” he says. Not unlike fashion.