STOCKHOLM IS AWASH WITH A NEW breed of denim designers and fashion labels looking to follow in the footsteps of fashion giant H&M.

It wasn´t supposed to happen this way. Everyone agreed that fashion powerhouse H&M cast a shadow over Sweden´s smaller homegrown fashion companies as impossibly high competition from the retail giant rendered efforts of expansion futile.

Today, however, it´s as if every other Swede is suddenly starting up fashion label in their kitchen or on the verge of an international breakthrough. Boutique Tjallamalla in central Stockholm, for example, has almost 300 Swedish labels. Names to watch include Cheap Monday, J. Lindeberg, Filippa K, Acne Jeans, Nakkna, Nudie Jeans, Carin Wester and WeSC. Creativity has become a national epidemic.

In Söder in Stockholm, Filippa K´s 50 employees occupy a minimalist office in an old industrial building. With 19 stores in Europe and stocked at almost as many outlets, including Selfridges, the plan is to grow slowly and keep control of the brand.

As one of Sweden´s more successful brands, Filippa Knutsson and her then husband Patrik Kihlborg started the company back in 1993 from home and still run it together today. The style combines Swedish functionality with a continental, sensuous streak."I like simplicity and I focus on the human being in all aspects of the creative approach, from the quality of the clothes to the marketing. It also influences the workplace, we´re like a family and help each other through problems and births," smiles Filippa Knutsson. Growing up in London, the designer took some of the city´s sensibility with her when she first moved to Stockholm at 19 to work with her father, the man who introduced casualwear and trendy jeans to Swedes in the 70s with his string of shops called Gul & Blå.

This may go some way to explaining why Swedes seem to have a knack for introducing new jeans labels. Cheap Monday has, in a short space of time, become must-haves for many young Scandinavians. In Stockholm, under-30s from all walks of life can be seen wearing the backside logo of a skull with an upside-down cross on its forehead. True to their name, they are indeed exceptionally cheap, selling for only SEK 400 (£ 30), a price tag practically unheard of for designer denim.

Örjan Andersson, co-founder and lead designer explains the brand´s success: "I worked in a jeans store for 15 years before our launch and gained a good understanding of the customer. We sell original high fashion jeans at a reasonable price," says Örjan who, in March 2004, stocked the first 800 Cheap Mondays in their shop in Stocholm. By the end of the year, one million pairs will be sold in almost 20 countries.

However, while the logo has provoked some controversy − especially in the US, where newspapers reported on claims about its satanic message, helped in no small part when Örjan´s colleague said that it was a statement against Christianity − this nevertheless served to fuel all-important interest over there. "A graphic designer created the logo, it was something he liked and it worked well with our idea, that was really the reason," he explains matter-of-factly.

One of the fastest growing labels of the new breed is Nudie Jeans, which uses a more laid-back and typical Swedish style in their brand identity. Founder Maria Erixon used to work as head of design at Lee Europe until 2001. With Nudie, she has created a label that centres on seeing denim as a second skin, naked and personal, which only gets more comfortable and beautiful with every wear and wash. Each design, from Super Slim Kim to Baggy Bjorn, are made in Italy, individually hand-finished with real leather patches, and features double-colour inseam stitches.

Acne Jeans, a label that is rapidly gaining renown among the international fashion set, with almost 200 styles and almost as many employees as Filippa K, has a different background. A creative collective that is also responsible for award-winning commercials and a magazine, Acne branched into denim when they decided to produce 100 pairs of jeans with red seams in 1996. "We are defined by a great sense of creative freedom and therefore change our look almost every year. We don´t have to follow a practiced fashion formula each season, which I imagine many fashion houses must do", says creative director Jonny Johansson as he explains his desire to make clothes that make people feel and become smarter and more interesting.

But Stockhom´s new fashion wave does not start and end with denim alone. WeSC (SC stands for Superlative Conspiracy) is a street fashion brand and has its roots in skateboarding (a feat in itself considering Sweden´s weather only allows for outdoor activity for about four months of the year). Greger Hagelin is the co-founder, free-thinker and bottomless energy source for this brand that has been around since 1999. "The only motto that is set in stone is ´WeSC will always be unpredictable´. That permeates everything we do, from clothes to marketing," he says.

With flagship stores in LA and NYC, said marketing activities always demonstrate the brand´s humour, with recent events including the world´s first and only "mile-high" fashion show aboard a flight from Stockholm to Barcelona. "The company is a network of creative people, many are shareholders and we call them Weambassadors. We also have around 30 Weactivists, from skate and snowboarding, acting and the arts, people like actor Jason Lee. They are our most important communication channel," says Greger Hagelin.

Similar to WeSC is the brand J. Lindeberg, which in ten years, under the guidance equally visionary and hard-working Johan Lindeberg, has managed to build a fashion company that offers four different lines, from sportswear to high fashion. Working for Diesel in the 90s, Johan was in charge of the campaign "For Successful Living" that redefined how jeans are now marketed − with brains and irony. Today J. Lindeberg has 10 flagship stores − in New York, Tokyo, LA and Kyoto to name a few – and musicians like Dave Gahan, Juliette Lewis and Carl Barat model his clothes in international advertising campaigns. Lindeberg´s goal − creating a lifestyle brand for the modern 21st century customer −  is clearly well within reach.

Three promising new lines, Nakkna, Ida Sjöstedt and Carin Wester, are taking a more conceptual approach, following in the footsteps of Sweden´s catwalk design pioneers like Ann-Sofie Back and Patrik Söderstam. At Nakkna, Claes Berkes, Camilla Sundin and Ella Soccorsi use tactile materials to create draping and sharply cut styles with lots of structure in mellow colours − inspiration from a recent collection came from light and shadows.

The trio is already a favourite with fashion connoisseurs in Sweden and will soon be on sale at La Boutique in Paris and Opening Ceremony in NY. "We work as a team, discuss all angles and after a while, reach a common position that we know is right. I think this form of absolute democracy is very Swedish," says Claes Berkes.

So, why this fashion boom happening right now?

To understand this phenomenon, there is no getting away from H&M. For a time, opinion was that the retail giant made all attempts at becoming established in the fashion industry fruitless, as customers were used to quick and cheap fashion fixes. But today, opinion has changed and H&M is now considered as an inspiration for new fashion companies and a mentor that made the nation fashion-savvy from an early age. "H&M has removed the elitist image from Swedish fashion," says fashion journalist Göran Sundberg, who, to critical acclaim, launched his own line of 40 finely-tailored designs for men and women. "But the brands succeeding in the market place are helmed by entrepreneurs and not by designers educated at Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm or Central St Martins in London."

Margareta van den Bosch, head of design at H&M, points out that several of Sweden´s new crop such as Whyred´s Roland Hjort, cut their teeth at H&M before branching out on their own. "Making mistakes in this industry is expensive, so it´s important to know about the pitfalls before starting your own business," she says.

Refuting the earlier criticism that H&M stifled smaller  Swedish fashion companies, Margareta argues that the ethos behind her company is to make affordable and popular fashion. "In any country, young designers face the same challenges, but the Swedish market is very small if you´re an independent designer. You also need to sell abroad."

And what does she put Stockholm´s recent fashion appeal down to?  "Swedes like clothes that aren´t extreme, we don´t like the over-designed. Standing out in a group should be avoided, and maybe that´s why we reach a broad and varied audience with our designs."