110 WHAT'S THE STORY IN WOMEN WE TRUST
“WE ARE THE PIPPI LONGSTOCKING OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY”
43-year-old Jennie Högstedt Björk joined Odd Molly in 2011. She used to work for H&M and is an experienced business controller and executive.
Jennie Högstedt Björk will replace her predecessor Anna Attemark as CEO of Odd Molly in August 2018. The fact that the new CEO comes from the own ranks rather than being recruited externally is typical of the listed company based in Stockholm. Even the brand vision encourages one Molly to promote the other. Interview: Stephan Huber. Text: Martina Müllner-Seybold. Photos: Odd Molly
Odd Molly has undergone an amazing evolution. The brand has not only generated continual growth since its launch in 2002, but has also continuously developed its look and positioning. How did you achieve that?
The aspiration has always been to create a clothes brand that would dare to stand out, be imaginative, and make its own way. Odd Molly wouldn’t exist without Molly, a skater girl in Venice Beach in the 1980s. Molly was the only girl in her group of friends who didn’t strive to fit in. Instead, she was herself and went her own way. Our vision is to create more Mollys in the world, strengthen girls, and make them believe in themselves. I believe this has made the brand both relevant and au-
318 style in progress
thentic. Another reason for our continuous development is that we’ve always strived to create exciting designs and take on new categories that include bold and beautiful colours, unique patterns, and handmade details without compromising continuity in our design. Our style is strong and clear, thus easy to apply to different product groups. Knowing and understanding one’s target group is essential. How or under which influences has this target group in this case women - changed in recent years?
We can sense a clear change over the past few years in the sense that our customers become increasingly daring, for example in terms of prints and colours. Our key objective is to increase sales outside of Sweden and we have noticed that international customers are even more daring than Swedish customers at times. That’s very fortunate for us. For us as a company, the work we’ve done in regard to sustainability has been very important. We can see that those kinds of questions are becoming increasingly important to customers. We sense a lot of interest and engagement from our customers in this area, much more than we did a couple of years ago. Another trend that de-
fines our customers is that they oppose the principle of mass consumption. They prefer buying fewer really great pieces that will last for a long time. Odd Molly is the most sought-after brand on the largest Swedish e-retailers of second-hand products. We see that as proof of the quality of our products and their long life cycle. How do women shape Odd Molly as a business?
It’s important to us to embody our vision within the company, to help create more Mollys in the world, strengthen girls, and make them believe in themselves. I also think that many of us perceive ourselves as a Molly. We work hard to create an atmosphere that promotes new ideas and courage. This has resulted in a team that dares to take a stand and show initiative. This has subsequently resulted in us primarily recruiting internally, because it’s easy to spot potential within the existing team. Who is Odd Molly addressing today?
Wholesale is crucial for us. It’s very important to us to not exclude anyone, but a true Molly is someone who breaks with conventions to follow her own dreams in life. We sometimes describe ourselves as the Pippi Longstocking of the fashion industry. The women we address are women who dare to stand out and want to be noticed. Our
