It's pretty unusual for brands to fly under the radar for too long thanks to social media, but one has managed to remain low-key for about six years. Founded by friends Christoffer Brattin and Fredrik Johansson, Swedish sneaker brand Spalwart may have a website but you won't catch any regular Instagram posts or a Snapchat account. Co-founder Fredrik Johansson explains to Vogue how the duo keeps the brand authentic by staying away from the social media craze. "Our philosophy from the start has been that we don’t want to force the product on anyone because we believe people who work in fashion know what they want," he explains. "It turned out that our approach made the customers that we wanted actually find out about us and start buying in."
Spalwart's first style and cult-favorite among "hard-core denim heads" was the Special—however, the fashion crowd familiar with the brand favors the '70s-inspired Marathon Trail model. "The influences are coming from retro," Brattin tells the magazine, "but we’re trying to upgrade it and make it modern but not too much—it has to have that authentic feeling." The special-edition all-black Marathon Trail style, exclusive to Dover Street Market, is already a favorite of Comme des Garçons's Rei Kawakubo—and with fashion month upon us, we have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of Spalwart.
Shop our Spalwart sneaker picks below.
Will you be buying a pair of Spalwart sneakers? Tell us in the comments!
Opening Image: La Garçonne
