Petra Fagerström’s Spring 2027 collection, aptly titled Swedish Summer, explored the contradictions of modern femininity through a distinctly Scandinavian lens. The title began as an inside joke: while working on fur-trimmed parkas and embroidered black leather during London’s summer heat, the designer and her team joked that the collection looked more like a Swedish summer—when dressing for warmth can still be necessary.

Fagerström’s idea of the modern Swedish woman is built around contradiction. She is interested in femininity without allowing it to become restrictive, combining references to 1950s elegance with utilitarian streetwear. Knife-pleated skirts, lace-trimmed lingerie, fitted Dior-like jackets, and sequined dresses appeared alongside practical outerwear and tougher leather pieces.

Illusion played a central role. Lenticular prints transformed seemingly simple pleated dresses to reveal flashes of underwear or pussy-bow details as the wearer moved. A conventional trench coat appeared to open onto a black leather suit and pleated skirt, only for the viewer to discover that the entire look had been constructed as one garment.

The designer’s experimentation also extended into technology. While studying for her master’s degree at Central Saint Martins, Fagerström asked AI to respond to her idea of combining ladylike 1950s dressing with utilitarian streetwear. Rather than treating its glitches as limitations, she used them as creative prompts, translating their strange distortions into analogue tailoring, embroidery, and textile techniques.

At its heart, Swedish Summer questioned whether an attraction to traditionally feminine clothes has to carry traditional expectations with it. Fagerström embraced the beauty of the past while separating it from the social roles historically attached to it, creating a wardrobe that feels playful, intelligent, and distinctly contemporary