Atelier Doré

House of Dagmar is a Stockholm based fashion house founded in 2005 by three sisters – Karin, Kristina and Sofia – continuing the legacy of their tailor grandmother, Dagmar. We recently caught up with two of the sisters, Karin Soederlind and Sofia Wallenstam to chat about their sustainability efforts and style.

What inspired you to launch Dagmar and how has it been to work so closely with family? 

Karin: The inspiration behind starting Dagmar was originally that we wanted to work together all three sisters. Since it is 16 years between Sofia and me, we felt we wanted to do something together and have something that kept a natural everyday dialogue between us. And for sure it has. Now, we struggle to catch up about private stuff since we mostly have time for our job talks. But it’s been great to have such a close connection through a shared interest and passion. We are a big close family with all three sisters’ children, and family is very important to us, so it is great to have each other and always feel support is close by.
 
Sofia: Founding Dagmar we wanted to create a style that we felt was missing in the fashion scene. We have a Swedish lifestyle which is quite simplistic and where activities are always close to nature. Living in Stockholm city we like the clean coolness style that this city brings to you.

How would you describe your style in three words? 
Minimalistic, sophisticated, edgy.

How would you describe the woman that gravitates towards Dagmar?
Confident and hard working, with an interest in arts & culture… Conscious in her decisions, aware of her choices in life. She values how she dresses, travels etc. Open to actively participating in the life change we all need to do.
 
Why is sustainability so important to Dagmar?
As Swedes we grew up close to nature. Being aware of our impact on it and caring for it I believe comes with that. We want to leave this earth in good condition to our children, who doesn’t? Therefore, in creating House of Dagmar it has been very important for us to create products that have a long lifetime, and that are produced with minimal impact on the environment.

Realizing there is a climate crisis we have set goals for how to become a climate neutral company. To reach such goals we needed to first learn about our impact, therefore we started to measure our fiber footprint and have continued doing so every year since 2017. This helps us to make decisions based on facts and work harder to participate to reach UN’s climate goals.
 
What is your favorite piece of clothing in your wardrobe?
 
Karin: Oh too hard to say, our outerwear are always favorites, since you wear a jacket or coat a lot it is so important they make you feel great.

Sofia: Oh hard to say but I have a blazer from us that I’ve worn for over 15 years now and it still makes me feel that same confidence as it did the first time I wore it. Blazers are also great transitional layering pieces as they can both work as outerwear and jackets.
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