Growing up in New York, an international fashion capital with a bustling community of high-profile designers, century-old fashion houses and heritage magazines, it was hard for me to fully grasp the quiet renaissance now unfolding in Norway. , until I saw it for myself.

During a recent visit to Oslo to see the huge Steen and Strøm project, the oldest shopping center in the world, which is being reformatted to focus on luxury, I was able to attend Fashion Week of the Scandinavian city, their sixth since Oslo. Runway launched the event in 2015.

Throughout the week, local designers showcased their cool and smartly tailored collections in front of a crowd of local creatives. Envelope 1976 showed its edgy, minimalist designs of city party girls in a stark white industrial warehouse with concrete floors and walls. One and Other showed off their dreamy neutral and pastel staples in their own studio, an all-white apartment with big walls and high ceilings with decorative crown molding. And designer Elisabeth Stray Pedersen, of ESP, showed off her sustainable knitwear and outerwear made from local lambswool in the city’s historic former Central Library, and asked models to read and d interact with the books while walking the track.

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For some designers, it was their first Fashion Week, and as rising brands, they all debuted perfectly curated wardrobes, many of which were designed using sustainable practices, and bespoke designs. Other than that, the down-to-earth nature and intimacy of the shows made it all so new and fresh – no fuss, no bullying, no ego. Holzweiler’s after party, for example, took place at the docks of Lysaker, an industrial area overlooking the ocean, on the border with Oslo proper. Attendees included up-and-coming local designers, artists, models (Norway‘s modeling industry is also booming), and even shaman Durek Verrett, fiancé of Norwegian princess Märtha Louise. Throughout Fashion Week, the country’s royal family attended various events, always in a good mood and without expectations.

The same calm, the same friendliness and the same concern for the environment exist in the city’s docklands district. On the cobblestone streets, between modern lofts built over clear water canals, are chain restaurants and shops selling Norwegian designers, streetwear, athleisure and outerwear. Jewelry is also making its way into the city, with vintage-inspired designers like Aur Studio, refined minimalists like Mold Atelier and eccentric maximalists like Pearl Octopussy using recycled metals to craft their precious pieces.

Overlooking the fjord that borders the shops, surrounded by sculptures, are the city’s art centres: Oslo Opera House, designed by local architecture group Snøhetta, and the Much Museum, dedicated to the late Norwegian painter Edvard Munch . A few streets away is the National Museum of Norway, which recently expanded its fashion archive, and next door is the soon-to-open International Fashion Research Library. The first of its kind, the library was founded by 22-year-old Elise By Olsen, who launched her Norwegian fashion journal, Reviewwhen she was only 13 years old.

Early mornings on weekdays, locals swim in the fjord before heading out to work, and on weekends live bands play near cafes, providing a silky soundtrack for shoppers. Few things are open before 10 a.m. or after 9 p.m., and although most of the population is very well educated, travels well, and financially well off, this is not considered cool being stressed or overworked, let’s call it European Zen. So, for the first time, Fashion Week was not eventful, not in Oslo.

What’s most unique about all of this is that most of them didn’t exist four years ago. There were few shops and restaurants – because it really wasn’t Oslo’s culture to shop or eat out – no fancy stores, and young students really didn’t consider any area of ​​the fashion as an accessible or realistic career. Additionally, most locals practically dressed down, in sportswear, outerwear, and sneakers, not just to match their active lifestyles, but because being creative with one’s fashion wasn’t common or common. even considered. Today, more and more universities in Norway, including Kunsthøgskolen, ESmod, Oslomet and Sofi School, teach fashion and, in addition to funding and partnering with local designers, foster new talent and create a fashion community wider in Norway, Steen and Strøm, Oslo Runway, and Promenaden Management (which lease prime commercial and retail properties in central Oslo), are introducing the concept of luxury to the community.

Steen and Strøm, the beating heart of Promenaden, Oslo’s new fashion district, is being revamped to feature high fashion and footwear from Adidas to Chanel, as well as designer boutiques at the mall interior. There’s also a beauty floor – where Dior and Fenty Beauty are in the midst of a friendly popularity contest – and a food hall where you can experience various cuisines, including the odd delight that is Norwegian fusion- mexican.

David Wilkinson and Kaia Kongsli, executive director and head of marketing respectively, said that by honoring Norwegian designers while bringing in international brands, they hope to make the department store a must-visit destination for locals and travellers. Essentially what Bergdorf Goodman is to New York: rooted in the city’s DNA and undeniably iconic.

Flanking the center, between Oslo’s two main roads, Prinsens Gate (Prince’s Street) and Karl Johans Gate (named after King Charles III John), are the world’s leading luxury brands, Gucci, Dior, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Burberry, and Rolex, to name a few – an incredibly exciting first for Norway and Scandinavia as a whole. The two-story Dior ready-to-wear boutique features an entire floor of menswear and is the French fashion house’s first location in all of Scandinavia.

Although there are only a few years of preparation and Steen and Strøm’s project is far from finished, the influence of high fashion has already reached the farthest corners of Oslo. Norwegian Rain and SWIMS Norway, two local sportswear and outerwear brands, remain immensely popular, but even they are leaning more towards cool, effortless luxury these days.

This introduction to luxury will change Oslo for the better, putting it on the radar to become the next fashion capital, helping to showcase its homegrown talent and inspiring locals to become interested and invested in fashion in their hometown. rather than elsewhere in Europe. But the benevolent and grounded nature of the city and its people will never change. Oslo’s motto, Wilkinson and Kongsli told me, is “No one is better than another”, and that’s how they really live, with humility at the forefront – labels of luxury or not.