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Second Sunrise: a World-Class Clothing Store in Stockholm

Truly High-Quality Garments

My wife and I recently had a couple of days in Stockholm.1 And as someone who loves well-made stuff (especially clothes), I searched for good stores for that. I didn’t find many, but the only one I found beforehand, was well worth it.

Other recommendations:

L'usine Bleue was a really cool little store, with only French workwear.

6/5/4 was also pretty cool.

World-Class

To put it into perspective, I went looking for stores at this level in Now York a couple of years ago — and that city only had two stores on this level: Self Edge and Blue in Green.2 Other stores I know about, are Standard & Strange, Göteborg Manufaktur, Blue Caviar (DK), Brund (DK), Redcast Heritage and Tate & Yoko. But they are really rare — so if you’re close to one, and get to try stuff in-store, you should really go for it.

From Second Sunrise. Retro interior, lots of raw denim, and a dog sleeping on the floor.

What’s so special about stores like Second Sunrise?

Usually, when clothes are expensive, it’s due to the brand; You pay more just because the T-shirt says “Supreme”, or whatever. Or, not just: Name-brand stuff typically has a bit higher quality than fast-fashion.3 But the stuff you find at stores like this, is something entirely different. The items are absolutely costly — but not necessarily expensive. They cost what they cost because they are expensive to produce, the materials, construction, and cost of labour in the countries they’re made.

Now, I’m not claiming they aren’t overpriced at all — and it’s hard to say if it’s “worth it”. The items last longer, but does an €80 T-shirt last eight times as long as a €10 one? However, buying one T-shirt instead of eight, is more sustainable — and you’ll end up loving your garments more if you live by Standard & Strange’s motto: “Own fewer, better things.” The items will conform to your body, and you’ll want to repair them when they break.

Some things to look for:

Denim

A table with tons of raw denim jeans, and a guy in the background hemming my jeans. They have a bunch of old sowing machines.
Jeans like this usually only comes in one length: Long. So it's a good thing that they offer free hemming while you wait!

A good place to start, would be to look at jeans, for instance from Sugar Cane. In this context, they’re on the more affordable side — and they simply make jeans like how Levi’s used to make them.

The thing about denim, like this, is that it’s at its worst while brand new. This is in opposition to jeans that are “pre-worn”4 and stretchy, which might look and feel great in the store. However, after you’ve purchased a regular pair, it’s all downhill — while higher-quality denim only gets more and more comfortable and good-looking. And I absolutely know which trajectory I prefer… But it absolutely makes it a harder sell, when the jeans might not be very comfortable in the store, if you haven’t experienced how nice they become. But personally, I really like it when clothes feel substantial.

Me in my garden. I'm wearing an indigo Type II denim jacket, and black jeans.
Close-up of the arm of the jacket. There's a lot of crease marks in my elbow.
This jacket, from Sugar Cane, was totally uniform in colour when I got it — but now it has quite a lot of "fades", as it's called. I really like that they appear where "they should" due to my body movement.

Most of this kind of denim is made in Japan, and on vintage looms that create a cool selvedge line if you cuff them. The denim doesn’t get better because they’re selvedge — but it is a sign of the denim being good.

A cuffed pair of black jeans, that are not selvedge. So there's regular stitching where the jeans pattern has been sown together.
Another black pair of jeans, but these are selvedge. The place where the material is sown together has a nice, white line instead of the regular stitching.
The jeans on the left are not selvedge, while those on the right are. I think the white line looks handsome!

So, buying high-quality jeans like this, will give you the following:

  • Jeans that might be stiff in the beginning, but will end up feeling like they were tailor-made for you.
  • They’ll also look better and better with wear, and will patina really nicely.
  • You’ll know that they’re made more ethically than most denim.
  • And they’ll last for a long time, and feel really solid every time you put them on.

Basics

Another good value brand, is Whitesville. They make basics, like T-shirts and sweatshirts, that are really nice. Some of these are loopwheeled, which is another old-timey way to make clothes that is often used for great pieces.

These don’t look that special — but if you feel them, you’ll notice that they’re special. And they’ll stay nice for a long time.

A sea-green hoodie.
From the Second Sunrise web store. I think I would've purchased this if they had it in my size!

Notebooks

They also stock some really nice stuff from Traveler’s Notebook. Here’s a nice video on them!

An olive coloured leather notebook.
The notebook opened up. You can swap out the paper while keeping the leather binding.

But everything in the store is just really nice

… and this includes the service!

They also have some really nice shoes, shirts, and more. If you have the opportunity, and funds, I strongly recommend going to a store like this, and maybe making a purchase. And if you’re like me, you’ll only be able to afford one item.5 But that’s OK, as I think it would be something you’d really love, and can keep on loving for a long time.

Interior of the store, showing a vintage Levi's ad and a bunch of clothes.
Another interior shot, showing the basics section.
Interior, showing some shoes, T-shirts and jackets.

  1. A smooth train ride from Oslo. 👌🏻 ↩︎

  2. That was the only stores I found, and they only knew about each other. ↩︎

  3. I want to write more on what things should cost later. ↩︎

  4. /pre-destroyed ↩︎

  5. I’ll write about that later! ↩︎