How ‘The Killing’ Made Scandinavian Fashion Cool For Guys, Too

It all started with a sweater. Not just any sweater but the one knitted on the Faroe Islands and worn by Sarah Lund in the cult Danish TV drama, The Killing. With its interlinking bands of geometric diamonds encircling body and arms, this gray and white knit was simultaneously homespun and fashion forward, like slippers made by Philippe Stark. It was a sweater that could have come from an avant-garde fashion house such as Comme des Garçons or Alexander McQueen. Instead it was handmade by knitting crofters on a remote archipelago of islands halfway between Norway and Iceland.

No single garment has ever summed up so instantly the particular appeal of this (very) Northern European style: practical, comfortable, easy but with a design edge. The Lund sweater may have been worn by a woman, but it was men who loved it the most, a kind of boyfriend cardigan in reverse. For it seems all men covet a snug, graphically bold sweater—it is such an easy way to make a style statement. Read more at Observer.