Discovering the best clothing stores to shop in a new city is always tricky. If you don’t have proper connections, it’s a difficult task to find the right stores for your taste and pocket. It’s no secret that Stockholm is home to unique brands like Acne Studios, Our Legacy, Eytys, and Filippa K.
To help you navigate Stockholm’s endless shopping options, this guide will give you some great tips on where to shop while focusing primarily on menswear, and where to find it in this amazing city.
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Nitty Gritty
Let's start with one of the most impressive selections of street and menswear I have ever stumbled upon. Nitty Gritty is a clothing boutique in the hip Södermalm neighbourhood of Stockholm.
While we can talk for hours about what the hipster oasis neighbourhood of Södermalm can offer, this store is a clear stand-out. Nitty Gritty offers a wide selection of casual pieces from various menswear labels, such as staple Japanese names Nanamica, orSlow, and Aurelee, Scandinavian brands like mfpen and Our Legacy, but also an excellent blend of classic French and Italian labels.
What had started as a streetwear store in 1991 in a much smaller location in Gamla Stan, Stockholm's city centre, as a way for the younger generation to showcase their interest in fashion and music, has now turned into a sophisticated blend of luxury brands, streetwear, footwear, and even accessories, art, and fragrances. Although smaller, there is also a separate women's Nitty Gritty store, just a couple of steps from the men's location.
I also recommend checking out the wonderful bookstore next door called Papercut, which offers fashion, art, design, music, and film books and magazines. I spotted a couple of issues of the Japanese menswear and lifestyle magazine Popeye, which you ought to check out if you are a Japanese fashion enthusiast.
Here is a link to Nitty Gritty’s online store and Google Maps location.
Herr Judit
I might start repeating myself by the end of the article, but trust me on this one: Herr Judit is a must-visit if you want to see what Stockholm has to offer when it comes to second-hand designer and vintage pieces.
Also located in Södermalm, the shop was founded in 2005, and it has always had a careful curation of menswear featuring local brands, but also a great selection of streetwear, workwear, and even more formal attire from around the world. The store has an inviting old-school wooden interior, making you feel like visiting a tailor in the 1960s. What you are greeted with are well-sorted racks of modern and vintage garments that seemed reasonably priced to me, considering the concept of such an establishment.
I ended up getting a yellow cotton Our Legacy sweater, but plenty of other pieces caught my attention, such as the great selection of coats and jackets by Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Schott, CP Company, and Nigel Cabourn. There were plenty of amazing-looking workwear jackets and pants from Sweden and the UK, in addition to some quality denim from orSlow, Helmut Lang, and Our Legacy. Honestly, there is just too much to try and fit into a short description, so do yourself a favour and check it out.
Here is a link to Herr Judit’s Instagram page and Google Maps location.
Broadway & Sons
If you are into military surplus and workwear, this next recommendation will get you very excited. Broadway & Sons is the single most stocked location of vintage military surplus, denim, workwear, sportswear, and all kinds of other exciting vintage pieces I have ever had the pleasure of browsing in person.
The brand was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1982 by David Asséraf to be the go-to location for those who seek garments with history and those who care about the fine details. Today, you can also find them in the Södermalm district of Stockholm, where David's son Noam continues to build upon his father's vision of a menswear sanctuary.
The interior has a unique 1980s American Denim store flair that makes everything inside look even more authentic than it already is. The store hosts a considerable collection of vintage denim, featuring Levi's jeans from different periods and in various conditions.
Broadway & Sons also has a great vintage army surplus selection, which includes pieces from Sweden, The Netherlands, France, and other countries. A great-looking vintage Swedish Army chore coat in green from 1950-1960 got my attention while browsing the store, and at 70 EUR, I found it to be priced very adequately. The more you dig through the neatly arranged racks of vintage pieces, the more you will fall in love with their unique collection.
Here is a link to Broadway & Sons’ online store and Google Maps location.
Our Legacy Work Shop
For this one, we will be parting with the old and diving into Our Legacy, one of the most popular contemporary Swedish fashion brands, founded in 2005 in Stockholm. What had started as a line of printed t-shirts by the hands of Jockum Hallin and Christopher Nying has grown into a well-respected fashion house that contributes to why Stockholm is still considered one of the most influential fashion hubs in Europe.
Regardless of whether you are new to the brand or have known it for a long time, the Our Legacy Work Shop store in Stockholm is a great way to dive into what the brand has to offer and learn more about its philosophy. At the Work Shop, you can purchase great sample garments, but also pieces from older collections that have been either reworked or used as a basis for experimentation.
It is a relatively small and non-intimidating location, resembling an industrial-looking garage, that aims to give the brand a safe space to experiment with alternative ways of showcasing, working with, and recycling garments, with these different types of clothing being separated into 9 categories (indicated by price tags labelled A.1 to A.9). Among those, there are also reference pieces from other brands for some of Our Legacy's designs, acting as a clear statement of the brand's transparency when it comes to where they gather inspiration from.
I ended up not picking up anything, but there were some great-priced pieces I tried on, including a pair of Levi's 501xx jeans (A.9), a dark blue contrast-stitched Work Shop hoodie (A.1), and a pair of red ROA hiking boots (A.9). Trying on the Demon leather jacket was also a highlight of the shop visit for me. You could never be certain about what you would find at the Work Shop store, which is a great reason to go and check it out while shopping in Stockholm.
Here is a link to the Our Legacy Work Shop online store and Google Maps location.
Acne Archive Torsgatan
Continuing with what Sweden has to offer when it comes to luxury brands at reduced prices, Acne Studios Archive is where you can find apparel, accessories, and footwear from previous collections by the Stockholm-based fashion house.
The store is in the same area of town as Our Legacy Work Shop and, similarly, it is a moderately sized location that still offers a nice variety of pieces, most importantly, at prices reduced up to 75 per cent. Just beware that as with most archive and sample stores, there are mostly single sizes available.
When I visited, I was happy to see a whole wall of denim, a staple of the brand since its inception, only to find out from a very helpful assistant that there were none left in my size. They also had a great selection of sweaters and outerwear.
More on the brand's background, Acne Studios was originally founded in 1996 by Jonny Johansson, who has since been the creative lead of the whole operations, turning the brand into one of the most consistently relevant fashion houses from Scandinavia.
Here is a link to the Acne Studio online store and Google Maps location of the Archive.
Some honourable mentions
But wait, there are more shopping stores which are worth a visit if you are in the city. Here is a quick summary:
HOPE: Some neat-looking denim and outerwear, all clothes labelled with both women's and men's sizes, for some gender-neutral shopping.
Stockholms Stadsmission: Second-hand charity shops all over Stockholm with a variety of clothes and other vintage items, where I got a nice deal on a Swedish maritime workwear jacket.
STHLMGRÖN: Curated second-hand apparel, with an excellent selection of dress shirts and some great denim.
Beyond Retro: Another second-hand store worth visiting if you want to dig for gold.
Grandpa: A must-visit spot for any outdoors enthusiast who wants to spend the extra money on high-quality, sustainable fashion pieces.
APLACE: No better place if you are looking for carefully selected high-quality casual pieces, and some bonus points for stocking one of my favourite sweaters by Libertine Libertine.
If you want to access a summary of all stores listed above, plus some extra ones, here is a link to a handy Google Maps list. I hope you find something you like, and discover something new while shopping in these locations in person.