Toteme Spring 2025 Ready-to-Wear Collection

It’s a good day for Swedish fashion: Just hours after Ellen Hodakova Larsson was named the winner of the LVMH Prize in Paris, Elin Kling and Karl Lindman had their first New York City show. Toteme’s much-hyped debut was also a homecoming; the Swedish couple were living in the Big Apple when they founded the brand in 2014. Since then it has acquired a cult following and seems primed for exponential growth given the label’s increasing retail presence (they’ll open their second store in Manhattan this week), the popularity of quiet luxury, and the general Rowification of fashion. At 10, Toteme has become both a totem and beacon of minimalism.

The brand is unyieldingly loyal to Kling’s own style. Nothing comes down the runway or goes into a store that it’s not possible to imagine Kling wearing—and so it has been from the beginning, when she was segueing from influencer to media mogul (Kling had her own magazine, StyleBy) to the designer/entrepreneur, style icon she is today. (Last summer a picture of Kling going to Bergdorf Goodman caused quite a stir among fans.) This fealty means that Toteme has a clear point of view; and for Kling it’s how you style pieces that brings newness. “The color palette is very black and white; that’s what I wear a lot myself. I like the play of how you bring fabrics together, how you can get this saturation from black suede, and then if you wear a black cotton trouser, you get a sort of washed effect. I feel like you don’t need [lots of] color if you don’t want to because you have texture,” she said.

Kling has always been attracted to the Upper East Side, home of the Bergdorf Blonde (indeed the show was in a neighboring building to the store). Bringing Camilla Nickerson on as stylist was smart, her instinct for raw edginess and Kling’s restraint balanced well. “We talked a lot about wellness,” Kling noted; tanks in the lightest of knits added a welcome sporty, if Helmut Langian touch. Softening the brand’s signature rigor was romance in the form of twisted tulle skirts, and even some unexpected floral embroidery. From tailored satin coats to draped goddess dresses, there was more emphasis on dress-up looks. (Michelle Williams—front-row in an LBD and a gold necklace that sat perfectly along the neckline, sheer black nylons and black slingback wedges—epitomized the ladylike aspect of the brand.)

A totem is a monument, by definition a “representative of a particular quality or concept.” Toteme has become synonymous with minimalism, timelessness, and discipline, even if the spring silhouettes were described as “pacy” (meaning for busy, active women/New Yorkers) in the show notes. In its focus on good design at relatively accessible prices, Toteme is leaning into its Scandinavian roots, where how you live is connected to what you wear.