Meet the Irish fashion designer behind Tiger of Sweden
“The richness of life is in the absence of certainties,” says Bryan Conway, a fashion designer born in Ireland.
As the design director at Tiger of Sweden, a 117-year-old Swedish fashion brand primarily known for its tailoring, he spent lockdown at home in Stockholm, reflecting upon the uncertainty of our future and the direction fashion might take as we inched closer towards lives that resembled the Before Times. It was through contemplation that Conway discovered where men’s fashion might go next.
He rolled out some good solutions: an abstract marble print pyjama-style shirt and shorts insouciantly worn under a beige overcoat, a long-sleeve polo neck paired with a navy suit, an untucked, roomy black button-up and matching trousers cut with relaxed ease, and blue jeans and slippers with a crisp white shirt. It had that lockdown sensibility: uncomplicated, comfortable clothes to buffet the existential dread.
With rates of infection rising again, our winter could mirror our spring: spent largely indoors, studying our own images on the tiny little panel on a Zoom meeting, and thinking about those new trousers whose ghostly presence has stagnated the air in our wardrobes. Alas, it’s no time to be negative. People have livelihoods to make and fashion designers continue to self-assess, figuring out what role fashion has in our ever-changing lives.
It’s something that’s been on Conway’s mind. Video conferencing from his Stockholm studio, he shared that he’s been pondering some things: 'what does it mean to wear a suit?', 'what is a uniform for a man now?', and 'if the tailored jacket is less important, what takes its place?' Before continuing, he’s not going to give up tailoring anytime soon. It is to Tiger of Sweden what interlocked Cs are to Chanel or check is to Burberry.
“A tailored suit or a tailored jacket is so loaded, it’s not just a piece of clothing, it comes with so much storytelling and information about how society has evolved over the years. It has a richness to it,” he notes.
One can see how the pandemic has repositioned tailoring in his collection: a blazer with jeans, a relaxed fit tux in a peachy shade, and a slimmer charcoal version but without the rigorous strictness that typically dominates formal suiting.
For spring/summer 2021, which will arrive in stores early next year, the gambit is to take Tiger of Sweden’s modus operandi — “style with purpose”, with all the flourishes of instantly recognisable Scandinavian minimalism — and imbue it with some emotion and romance.
“Minimalism can get very cold. It makes you ask, ‘where’s the emotion or storytelling?’ There’s a romanticism and richness missing,” he said.
“Making minimalism interesting is a far more subtle message. If a man gets it right, when you look at them you might pass over their outfit for a second and then you look at them again and, slowly, you start to take in some of these decisions. It doesn’t need to shout, it can be a soft message. I find that more exciting in a way.”
You can see it in the way he puts a thin polo neck underneath a heavy tailored jacket and blue jeans, and how those same blue jeans, cut just beneath the ankle, can add some vivacity to a black overcoat with the collar flicked up.
Conway, 34, was born in Raheeny, Co. Dublin to parents from Cork (his mother) and Clare (his father). He moved to London when he was four but returned at 18 to study economics at Trinity College Dublin. He sounds distinctly more English than Irish but claims a strong bond with his Irish heritage, spending most holidays in Cork city or West Cork.
It was after spending six months at a hedge fund that he decided economics wasn’t for him — taking a leap of faith and enrolling in art at the Camberwell College of Art. He took a special interest in a fashion module which led him to Westminster University, where he studied menswear, and where he worked with Christopher Bailey at Burberry following a fruitful internship.
Conway worked on Burberry’s runway collections throughout the final years of his design degree before taking a permanent position on finishing his studies.
His internship led to six formative years working closely with Bailey, finishing his time at the British heritage brand with the responsibility of leading the menswear runway team.
From there, he joined JW Anderson, founded by fellow Irishman, Jonathan Anderson, as the senior menswear designer, leading the men’s team. Bryan delivered three runway collections and two successful collaborations with Uniqlo.
In May 2019, he was asked to join Tiger of Sweden as the head of menswear. When he joined, he worked closely with his predecessor, Christoffer Lundmann. Among their innovations, they looked to renew the possibilities in menswear, offering tailoring a modern update. Blazers in high-performance technical wools came with detachable recycled nylon hoods. Trousers are given hiking functionality.
Now Conway is in charge of the entire operation. In his position, he will oversee the brand’s men’s, women’s, jeans and accessories lines — a tall undertaking for any designer no matter their pedigree.
His work will place evolution over revolution. The spring/summer 2021 is as useful, tactile, and straightforward as ever. He is not looking to redecorate a house that is prized dearly for what it does best. Rather, he hopes that his outsider perspective at a Scandinavian label can re-energise it and not just for locals, for men around the world too.
Most importantly, he says: “I’m not trying to shout loudly at everyone around me with our menswear, it’s subtle fashion.”
In a deafening landscape, a little quietness won’t go amiss.
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