THE JOURNAL
When Mr Erik Torstensson goes on holiday, he takes the opportunity to go all out on the style front. There is colour, there is print, there are sarongs. “I personally have a much more flamboyant aesthetic when I go on vacation,” says the co-founder and chief creative officer of FRAME. “I go bananas.” And while FRAME, the menswear brand cofounded by Torstensson and fellow Swede Mr Jens Grede, is slightly less extrovert, the summer collection embraces a similarly outward facing frame of mind.
The FRAME summer collection, like its menswear overall, draws from the lessons learned by Torstensson in his own style evolution. This manifests in this season’s camp-collar shirt, which with its Matisse-inspired print, laid-back silhouette and a certain lightness that says summer without going completely, as Torstensson puts it, bananas. Paired with elegantly easy fitting shorts, it’s a style makes the perfect addition to any holiday wardrobe. “I wanted something that could like still be in the wheelhouse of us,” Torstensson says. “So, it’s a toned-down version of what I do.”
This frame of mind governs all that FRAME does, since the duo launched the brand in 2012. Both already heavyweight creatives in the fashion world – they have, at various points, run creative and marketing agencies and launched Industrie magazine – the duo were scouting around for a passion project, when they hit upon the idea of making the one single item. “I was obsessed with denim,” Torstensson says. “And I was obsessed with doing the perfect pair of jeans in a perfect blue.”
The FRAME concept took off from there – their luxury denim a favourite of supermodels – and within the business framework always lay a future in womenswear, menswear, furniture design and more. “I thought of FRAME as a concept that could be applied to anything,” Torstensson says.
Two years ago, the team turned to menswear in earnest. They focused on what they liked to wear, what worked and what didn’t and followed a simple set of rules around fabric, fit and function. “I had an idea that I thought could apply to FRAME and it was really about looking at my own wardrobe and what I call the modern man and what do we actually wear,” Torstensson says. “I mean, I’m currently wearing a white T shirt, you know? My wardrobe is monotone. And, I thought, OK, we can have that as a base and do some fun stuff around it.”
From here, FRAME menswear has evolved, presenting wardrobe options that are foundational and classic, but with a modern twist. Once again, denim plays its part in laying the brand groundwork. “Denim is the foundation,” Torstensson says. “Denim in different shades and colours and you’re equipped for every occasion.”
Next, the team has devised a sequence of modern classics that would offer timeless additions to a man’s wardrobe – such as the breezy shell overshirt that forms part of the latest collection. Finally, they have considered everything in terms of a modern twist, such as the leisurely cargo trousers with a distinctive patchwork pattern, also part of SS22. “That twist is not so big, it's about small details,” Torstensson says.
Part of the core ethos has always been sustainability. Efforts have included water-efficient jeans (using just 1.25 litres of water rather than around 80 litres, which can be used when making traditional denim) and a biodegradable collection. But the point, going forward, according to Torstensson, is to think big picture. “I am actually going to do less of those singular efforts, because I think it's the mission must be bigger,” he says. “And the mission must be that we just as a brand, and as people behave in as responsible way as we can. So that doesn’t become marketing efforts, that becomes the DNA of who you are.”
Built into the DNA of FRAME is a belief in effortless style for the modern man. “I always liked this idea that menswear is about style not fashion,” Torstensson says. “It should be about dressing the character. It should be about real men.”
And since the real men behind FRAME hail from Scandinavia, it is no surprise to find that iconic design smarts also are deep in its DNA. “It’s about form and function,” Torstensson says. “Growing up in Sweden, everything was designed for a reason.”
And while he personally might want to explore bolder styles, at least over summer, his work is created with other, real men in mind. “It’s not loud,” he smiles. “I might be loud, but we’re not.”