Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Swedish Style & Design - Our Top Brands
Royal stripes meet New England Gripsholm is focusing on textile products for bed, bath and interior. It started with a classic New England theme, known for chequered patterns and stripes. The marine inspiration comes from the transatlantic liner M/S Gripsholm and the classic style refers to the royal castle of Gripsholm in Sweden. The founder, Bengt Pettersson, laid out the groundwork in the late ’90s, but the brand was not officially registered until 2004. When deciding on a name, Pettersson found himself at a restaurant with a view of Gripsholm Castle and had an idea. “They looked out across the castle and said: let’s call it Gripsholm: it is classic and simple. That’s where the journey began,” says Martinsen. Fashion as a source of inspiration Two seasonal collections add to the basic Gripsholm product line twice a year. Inspiration is quite often found in the fashion industry. “We find a lot of inspiration in other beautiful textile brands, but a lot from shirts and fashion patterns too. Classic things, like chequered men’s shirts for example,” says Martinsen, adding: “Just because we work with home décor, that doesn’t mean we can’t find in-
spiration in other fields. We recently launched a new logotype in leather, which was heavily influenced by inspiration from a bag.” Gripsholm also makes the occasional regional collection, such as the recent limited edition for the village of Byxelkrok on the island of Öland on the Swedish east coast. Previous collections also took inspiration from Dala horses, explains Martinsen, and upcoming ones will feature the west coast. A young man’s dream In the late 1940s, a young Swede wrote a letter to his father from America, saying that he wanted to start his own sock factory. The old man’s initial response was ‘slow down, son’. But in 1948, the young man, named Nils Tholén, came home and started up Topeco in Ulricehamn, a town located in a region with a proud textile tradition. The idea proved successful, and today, more than 60 years later, the company works across a range of product groups featuring everything from ladies’ and men’s socks and underwear to leggings and belts.
High standards Florén insists that quality influences everything they do, but admits that the word might have different meanings for different people. At Springhill, it means that everything they do should be of highest possible standard and quality. Florén includes everything from answering the phone to keeping things tidy in the office or at the shops, and taking care of customers and retailers. “You should get good treatment and something back,” he adds. This also applies to working conditions in the production chain; Springhill is a member of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) since 2007 and works actively to take responsibility in this regard. The company works closely with customers and clients, Florén explains. “The product is not sold until the consumer has purchased it. We want to be there every step of the way and take our responsibility.”
For more information, please visit: www.springhill.se www.topeco.se www.gripsholm.se
Issue 68 | September 2014 | 39