Scandinavian MIND

Artist duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset are two of the most influential artists in the world, and has been flying the flag for witty and political art under the name Elmgreen & Dragset for the last two decades. Sculptures and installations include the Prada Marfa, Powerless Structures at Trafalgar Square, The Collectors at Venice Biennale, and most recently, Life Rings loc...

Lotta Kopra is Chief Commercial Officer at Spinnova, a Finnish innovation company that creates sustainable textile fibre out of wood and waste, using zero hazardous chemicals and 99% less water than cotton.  When Lotta joined Spinnova in 2019, the company had a tech innovation but no commercial product. Now Spinnova is working with brands such as H&M Group, Bestseller, Marimekko...

Today we are revisiting a talk Konrad Olsson gave for Vocast, a brand sharing platform based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Vocast asked us to come and talk about Scandinavian MIND, and what fashion brands should think about then entering the Stockholm market.  The Scandinavian Mind podcast a bi-weekly show, about the intersection of lifestyle and technology.  Every Wednesday, we publish an in-...

Petter Stordalen is the founder of Nordic Choice Hotels, and owner of several iconic travel and hotel establishments in Scandinavia, including Hurtigruten, Ving airlines, and At Six hotel in Stockholm. In this conversation, Petter talks about: — The new Comfort Hotel Solna having one and a half solar panels per room.  — The past year’s challenge of running hotels. — How Nordic people and thei...

Pauliina Martikainen (Maki) on the fem tech opportunity Pauliina Martikainen, Investment director at the Helsinki based VC firm Maki. Pauliina is one of the industry’s strongest proponents for fem tech, the abbreviation for technologies that aims to support women’s health. Paulina got into the space after being a professional athlete, where she saw the need for innovations supporting female athlet...

Mattias Hansson is the marketing and programme director for the Swedish participation at the world exhibition in Dubai, the Expo 2020. Scandinavian MIND is official media partner to the exhibition and will be helping the Swedish Pavillon with events, live talks, exhibitions, and more.  In this conversation we talk about: Why physical meetings will always beat digital version to solve gre...

Erik Zetterberg and Daniel Herrmann are the founders of Singular Society, a new Stockholm-based fashion and lifestyle startup that seeks to reinvent the traditional retail model. Instead of making money by the traditional markup, they are selling their products for the cost of production, and instead charge a monthly subscription fee from its consumers.  Yes, you could call it the Netflix of...

Jodi is a London-based communication specialist, podcaster, and advocate for change towards a sustainable fashion future.  Her podcast and consultancy Other Day and the non-profit initiative Lab 2030 provide an excellent resource for discussions on the subject, with several reports coming out in the near future.  She is also a partner in Fashion Roundtable, a leading think-tank for the f...

Today we are revisiting an interview Konrad Olsson did recently on The Fashion Collective podcast, run by Alexander Walker in New York City.  In this conversation, Konrad and Alexander talk about fashion tech and what NFTs will mean for brands, the Swedish outdoor culture and everything Scandinavian MIND. The Scandinavian Mind podcast a bi-weekly show, about the intersection of lifestyle and...

Oscar Otteborn is Head of IT & Mobile at Samsung Electronics Nordics. Oscar is one of Sweden’s most experienced tech executives, and know more about the evolution of the mobile space than almost anyone, from working with brands like 3, Tom Tom, and Apple.  What most people don’t know about Oscar is that he is a world-class Karate fighter, who has won multiple Swedish and European champion...

Sofia Falk is a transformation activist and author of the new book The Diversity Paradox. Sofia has been helping some of the world’s biggest brands with their diversity strategies, including H&M, Scania, Pernod Ricard, and Volkswagen. In this conversation, we talk cover: — The difference between diversity and inclusion, and why the former doesn’t work without the latter — What tactics and tool...

David Orlic is co-founder and CEO of the Stockholm-based audio startup Anyone. Anyone is an invite-only app that enables experts give advice through five-minute voice calls. In this conversation, we talk about: — Why the time-limit of five minutes is key to the Anyone service — What Clubhouse means for the social media landscape — Why he thinks we will see more start-ups coming from creatives and...

Today we are revisiting a panel talk conducted during the Nordic Day, a Helsinki based conference hosted by its founders Ronny Eriksson and Peter Vesterbacka. The talk was titled: Why Nordic Impact is Important Panelists were: Amanda Sundell, Country Director Finland, Ashoka Arto Sivonen, CEO & Founder, Måndag Konrad Olsson, Founder, Scandinavian Mind Moderator: Dr. Tarek Omran, Founder, Scien...

Erik Fagerlind is the founder of the Swedish streetwear retailer Sneakersnstuff.  During the last two decades, Erik and his co-founder Peter Jansson has transformed their Stockholm based sneaker store into a global streetwear phenomenon, with a turnover of more than 100 million euro and stores in New York, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo. In this conversation, Erik talks about: — How SNS e...

Paul Dillinger is Vice President of Global Product Innovation at Levi's. Paul is known for spearheading the denim giants sustainability efforts. In this conversation, he talks about: Their collaboration with Swedish textile innovators Renewcell. Becoming head of global product innovation for Levi's. The challenge of sustainable design and persuade designers to invest their time into it. Givin...

We revisit a roundtable talk originally recorded for the Italian trade show Pitti Uomo and their digital platform Pitti Connect. Panellists are: Bruce Pask, Men’s Fashion Director, Bergdorf Goodman & Neiman Marcus Andreas Palm, Co-Founder and CEO, CDLP Adam Alexander Bach, Co-Founder and CEO, Mismo This panel talk is moderated by Konrad Olsson. Sign up to our newsletter at scandinavianmin...

Ilenia Martini, founder of visual communications agency Neni and the newly appointed editor-at-large of design and communications at Scandinavian MIND. We talk about: Greenwashing in the design community Why design manufacturers need to work together to make everyone in the industry thrive The pros and cons of a very slow design industry Why is the design industry so reluctant to use social m...

Jordana Guimaraes is the Florida-based co-founder of Fashinnovation, a community and events platform that connects entrepreneurs and innovators to create change in the fashion industry. In this episode, Jordana talks about:  The idea and building blocks of Fashinnovation Risking it all and rising from the ashes Using an entrepreneurial spirit to change societies and communities On how technol...

Today we revisit a panel from the Transformation Conference in November 2020. The panel is called SMART FASHION — the future of fashion through technology Speakers: Muchaneta Kapfunde, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, FashNerd.  Fredrik Timour, Founder, Fashion Innovation Center.  Moderator: Konrad Olsson. In this conversation, we talk about: How the fashion industry will be disrupted by o...

Dr. Philip Warkander is Senior lecturer at the Division of Fashion Studies at Lund University. In this conversation, Philip talks about: How fashion has turned unfashionable  Is the garment industry or the fashion industry the biggest environmental culprit? The difficulties of bridging the cultural divide between tech and fashion  The rise of clothing-as-a-service On becoming a Fashion s...

In this bonus episode, our editor in chief Konrad Olsson is interviewed by TEX! TV host Patrik Wermelin.  In this episode Konrad talks about: The Scandinavian image globally How tech companies are innovating the design industry Greenwashing vs green hushing And a few words about Scandinavian Mind Agency, our editorial branding agency that we run in parallel with Scandinavian Mind.  Sign...

Johanna Öberg is the CEO of Memira Eyecenter.  In this conversation, Johanna talks about: Transferring from the media industry towards the eye care industry Digitising the eye care industry Why everyone should go to the optician once a year How all vision defects can be surgically removed in 30 minutes On how the eye could replace the fingerprint On the challenges of creating circular economy...

We revisit a roundtable talk originally recorded for the Italian trade show Pitti Uomo and their digital platform Pitti Connect. Panellists are: Rasmus Storm from Storm Copenhagen, Silas Adler from Soulland, and T-Michael and Alexander Helle from Norwegian Rain. In this talk we cover: — How their approach to sustainability has transformed over the last few years. — What changes in attitudes they s...

In this episode, Christian talks about: His coming book on life after corona The fact that many new brilliant new ideas and companies will come out of this crisis, like the tech boom after the 2008 financial crisis How sustainable and green mindsets will stay with us  How education is on the verge of transforming  How new medical breakthroughs, like chip inplants, will disrupt the medica...

This season, we are partnering with the US trade show PROJECT, in a series of conversions on how the world of fashion is transforming. This episode is an edited version of a live Zoom session, titled “Start with purpose: a more mindful consumer 2021.” If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that consumers, more than ever, are “voting” with their wallets. They are demanding authenticity and aligning t...