Today I bumped into Robert (the head of sales) at the office. He was wearing a dark blue suit that caught my eye. It’s actually a suit (named Skylar) that hits the stores in the fall.
It’s a 2 buttoned suit, made in a dark blue wool fabric by Baberis. Both jacket and trousers are cut short. I think I’ll pick one up for myself when the fall comes…

The manufacturing of ready-to-wear suits in the beginning of the last century was extremely rare, if not to say revolutionary. It was an idea that would become a key factor in the success story I am now am about to tell. This is the first part in the history of Tiger of Sweden.

The history of Tiger begins in 1903 when Marcus Schwartzman and Hjalmar Nordström founded the company in Uddevalla ( a rather small town on the Swedish westcoast) that would later become known as Tiger. The company was first named Schwartzman & Nordström, who specialised in making top quality tailored suits.

At the time gentlemen went to a tailor when buying a new suit, often visiting the tailor several times while the suit took shape. Schwartzman decided to do the opposite.

At first he travelled around the country, taking the measurements of his customers in their homes. Nordström his partner, who was more reserved oversaw the production at the small factory back in Uddevalla.

In 1905 Nordström left the company due to a conflict of interest between him and Schwartzman of how the company should evolve. Schwartzman wanted to start making ready-to-wear garments, and that’s what happened.

The idea of making ready-to-wear suits was brand new, and was an immediate success. The public demand was enormous and
lead to a rapid growth of the company. After having production
in a series of small venues,the construction of a large-scale factory
began in 1928. In 1929 thefactory opened and staffed
a 1000 people.

How Tiger got its name

There are quite a few stories of how Tiger got its name.
The truth actually lies in a series of well liked suits.

At first Schwartzman & Nordström had given their suit models different numbers. Later on they decided to give them names instead. In 1926 the model Tiger 1 saw the light, followed by Tiger 2 and Tiger 3. The model Tiger was extremely popular from the start. It led to a massive success  to the point where the workers at the factory put a big Tiger sign up on the roof. From this day on people started calling the company Tiger.

The building of a new factory

After the opening of the factory in 1929 Schwartzman soon realized that it wasn’t enough.

The plans for a new factory began. When it opened in 1949 it was marked by Schwartzman’s utmost consideration for his staff, being one of
the most modern factories in the whole of Europe.

In the spring of 1939 Schartzman purchased the lot where the factory later was to be built. When the Second World War broke out later that year, the plans had to be put on a hold. Tiger had to reorganize and started producing garments for the Swedish Armed Forces instead.

When the war ended in 1945, the construction of the new factory began. In 1949 the factory was finally ready.

For a long time Schwartzman had prioritised the well-being of his staff. For instance he had purchased a recreation home, started a day nursery, built homes, introduced 17 days of vacation and Christmas bonus for all employees. The new factory was marked by the
same amount of consideration.

It had air conditioning, a speaker system with music shows, a staff diningroom, an electrically heated sauna and swimming pool. It might sound something that you would take for granted today, but back in 1949 it truly wasn’t.

In 1955 Marcus Schwartzman died at the age of 77. This was the beginning of turbulent time in the company’s history…
The following chapters describe the companies history from the 50´s until today with the significant rebirth of the brand in the early 1990´s.

Last night we had our annual spring party at the office, which was lods of fun.
The party ended with that we violated some of Swedens most distinguish artists
musical compositions on Singstar. Here are some pics from before the
party got out of hand:

To continue on the pick of the week thread I took a stroll down to the Tiger of Sweden stores
at Åhléns Departmentstore in Stockholm. I met up with Björn and Rezin, who each got
to put together their favourite outfit.

Rezin is looking lovely in the outfit she picked.
She´s wearing a white knitted sweater together with a peach
silk singlet and a pair of white cotton shorts.

Björn picked this outfit.
He´s wearing a dark blue wool suit
together with a black shirt with white dots.

All items can be found in Tiger of Sweden stores,

Rezin´s outfit

White knitted sweater (Robyn) 1099 SEK
White shorts (Elie) 799 SEK
Peach silk singlet (Shanna) 599SEK
Shoes- Private

Björn´s outfit

Dark blue suit(Tami) 6999 SEK
Black shirt with white dots (Bjubi) 1399 SEK
Shoes- Private

Chinos has been quite popular the last couple of seasons. According to the legend Sir Harry Lumsden, a commander of a British regiment stationed in India, got the idea in 1848 to dye all of his soldiers white uniforms with a native plant called Mazari. The new Khaki pants were more suitable in battle, since they gave a better camouflage in the local terrain. The name Khaki comes from the Hindu word for “dust”.

Later on when American troops situated in the Philippines (during the Spanish-American war) bought Chinese made khakis, they got the name chinos (Chino is the Spanish word for Chinese).

I can recommend two pairs of chinos, one for men and one for women, which are now in stores. The men’s model is called Stucker, and is made in classic cotton. They are slightly tapered, and got two stitched down pleats. Together with slanting front pockets and two jetted back pockets with a small double-jetted pen pocket underneath.

The women’s model is called Rut , made in italian coated cotton, which has a high-waist and tapered legs. Just like Stucker, they have two stitched down pleats and slanting front pockets.
Both models come in black and beige.

Do you have some extra time on your hands, and want to make
some extra money? If so, this might be interesting. We are currently
looking for fitting models Read more

This weekend I headed to Gothenburg, and stopped by the Tiger of Sweden stores at NK.
To continue on the pick of the week thread, I let Viktor and Caroline pick their
favourite outfits at the moment.

Viktor went for a slightly tailored outfit. He´s wearing a 4 buttoned dark blue jacket,
a knitted white cotton sweater and a red and white checked shirt with a matching handkerchief.
Together with a pair of white trousers and a pair of black leather shoes.

Caroline picked this outfit. She’s wearing a black tank top under a white top, together
with a pair of rolled up chinos and a pair of black high-heeled shoes.

All items can be found in Tiger of Sweden Stores. Caroline´s shoes (linked below) can also be found in our online store.

Viktor´s outfit

Dark blue jacket (Yoko) 2899 SEK
White cotton jumper (Garcin) 1299 SEK
Red and white checked shirt 1099 SEK
(handkerchief included)
White trouser (Slim) 999 SEK
Black Shoes (Matt2) 1999 SEK

Caroline´s outfit

Black tank top (Hanna) 599 SEK
White top (Merva) 899 SEK
Black chinos (Rut) 1199 SEK
Black high-heeled shoes (Sylvie) 1499 SEK
Black belt 499 SEK

In part two of the denim school, I sat down with Johan who explained the most essential things regarding jeans. Jeans is as I mentioned in part 1 a complete science, and this are the most essential parts of it.

Indigo has been used to colour different types of textiles for at least 4000 years, and is the most used dye in the world. It’s a natural colour agent that can be found in several plants, all around the world. It has been regarded as somewhat magical, and was believed to being healthy for the skin as well as scaring of snakes and mosquitoes.

Another aspect of indigo is that the colour surrounds the fibres and actually makes the fabric stronger. A unique feature of indigo is that it does not bond strongly to the fibres. As such, repeated wear and washing causes the dye to lift from the surface of the fibres while leaving the underlining fibres largely intact.

There are three major weaving techniques (we use all three). Right-hand was the first one used by Levis. The grain lines runs from the top right-hand corner of the fabric to the bottom left, and is the most commonly used. It makes the denim (and jeans) quite stiff and hard. The jeans becomes hard wearing but can crack over time, but it also has the benefit that it gets nice patina.

Left-hand is a technique developed by Lee and gives the denim a softer character, but isn’t as durable. In opposite to Right-Hand, the grain lines run from the top left-hand corner towards the bottom right. It also stretches more, and therefore gives a looser fit.

The last type is called Broken twill and was invented by a man called John Neill Walker for Wrangler in 1964. It’s different in that way that its diagonal twill line change direction. Except the unique surface texture, this weave also prevented the legs from twisting, which was a common occurrence at the time.

In the early 30´s a man called Sanford Cluett invented a technique to pre shrink jeans (raw denim usually shrinks 3-4 inches). This technique is still used on basically all jeans today. One of the most common used fadings is whiskers, and is developed either by hand or laser (or natural tear). Another used technique is to use enzymes. The enzymes eats up the indigo leaving the fabric with a washed look, without tearing on the fabric. Some jeans are also given a dirty look by a technique called tinting, which means that you dye the jeans with a base colour.

Selvage is the narrow tightly woven band on either edge of the denim fabric, which prevents the edge of the fabric from unravelling. At first the legendary Cone Mills used different colours of the thread, in order to identify the particular fabrics used by their manufacturers. Levis began with an all white strip and later on had a single red stripe along both selvages, Lee’s had a blue or green strip and Wrangler had a yellow. In the late seventies manufacturers began to shift from 27”-30” shuttle looms to much larger 60”+ modern versions, which were more cost efficient. However it also meant an end too much of the selvage, since the new machines did not have the recognizable selvage on either side.

A common advice when buying raw denim is to wear them as long as you possibly can, the denim gets the most natural look by doing so (something you might already know). Instead of washing them you can put them in the freezer or hang them out to air them. Another piece of advice when buying jeans is that when standing barefoot the jeans should barely touch the floor. Jeans usually shrink one cm. This is a matter of taste of course.