Back from Stockholm and it was almost to beautiful - the people, palaces, art, design, clothing - it was overwhelming. I went with my good friends, David and Jim and we stayed at the new Hotel Skeppsholmen the building, circa 1699, was designed by interior designers Claesson Koivisto Rune and architects Peter Erséus & Gunhild Skoog Jägbeck. The design was very chic & modern but of course our stomachs also need satisfying and the breakfast buffet was a highlight featuring a homemade yogurt that I still think about.
The island is also home to the Modern Museum and Architecture Museum both had amazing exhibits but the exhibit on Greta Magnusson Grossman who was a Swedish architect, furniture, and interior designer in the 1960’s who lived in California and contributed to the design movement there. Stockholm has over 70 museums so one has to pick and choose according to your interests otherwise you will need an on call pedicurist to help revive your feet. But we gave it our all so in addition to the Modern and Architecture museums we went to the National Museum (loved the industrial design exhibit), the Royal Palace, Nordic Museum (great exhibit on 50 years of Swedish clothing) Drottingholms palace, and Prince Eugen’s home. Even the design shops are so well conceptualized that you feel like you have stepped into a gallery - Svenskt Tenn is a must see for anyone who is Josef Frank obsessed, Modernity and Jacksons in the Olstermalm district were great to see vintage Scandinavian modern but priced way out of our budgets. The budget conscious shouldn’t be disappointed since the thrift stores such as the Stockholm Stadsmissions and the open air flea markets have great art and tabletop and very reasonable prices. David found two great oil paintings for around $20 - and digging through all the stuff is part of the fun. Other uniquely Swedish shopping included independent clothing designer’s Hope and Whyred, and perfumer Byredo. The fashion for men was very sleek with a new take on classics while the women’s fashion leaned to the 80’s and I wasn’t quite sure in a good way. Time will tell but I can say I will not be buying harem breeches anytime soon. The food was amazing - Toast Skagen (shrimp toast), pickled herring and Swedish meatballs were of course standards but done so well that it defied the stereotype. Jim loves chocolates so we made a trek to Choklad Fabriken and David became obsessed with Meringue Swiss at Eriks Bakfickan. Again surprisingly even the smallest cafe had fresh and well prepared dishes. It was a great Spring get away and great research opportunity next up August NYC Gift Show.