Slip into Noko jeans: North Korean fashion in Sweden

by Tom Johansmeyer on

HELLO IT’S Noko Jeans! from Noko Jeans on Vimeo.

Capitalism fever has crossed the DMZ and wandered into North Korea. The reclusive communist state has launched a line of designer jeans, which are set to go on sale at a fashionable Stockholm department store on Friday. Drop $215 a pop to sport “Noko” brand jeans and show that you can get your hands on an unusual and hard-to-find brand. Make sure everyone sees the label: “Made in North Korea.” So, when you’re cruising a PUB store in Sweden, saunter past Guess and Levi’s, and drop your ass into North Korea.

Noko is actually a Swedish company, and the founders spent more than a year trying to work out some arrangements with factory operators in North Korea. Communications were obviously an issue, as was trying to figure out how to do capitalist business in a communist place. Jacob Astrom, one of the founders, told Reuters, “There is a political gap, there is a mental gap, and there is an economic gap,” continuing, “all contacts with the country are difficult and remain so to this day.”

The founders of Noko got the idea to launch a project in North Korea out of curiosity, and Astrom said that the “reason we did this was to come closer to a country that was very difficult to get into contact with.” Hell, the country certainly isn’t known as a fashion center.

Sweden was a natural fit for pushing into the country that does its best to keep outsiders outside. It is only one of seven countries with an embassy in North Korea. So, this would seem like a great starting point for building relationships … but would overlook the countless challenges that exist even after you get a foot in the door.

The first company, the largest textile manufacturer in the country, turned Noko down, but the Swedes found some luck with Trade 4, the largest mining company in North Korea (mining: file this one under “only in North Korea”). Trade 4 also runs a small textile operation.

The effort was complicated that the folks at Noko wanted a North Korean factory to make 1,100 pairs of something it had never produced before. The first pair of jeans to roll off the line was the first ever for the country. Yet, this was just the start. Yet, the North Korean team was nothing if not helpful: a trade representative offered to find Astrom a pirated version of free software Adobe Acrobat to help him read files.

A trip to North Korea this past summer drove home the need for micromanagement at the factory. But, that didn’t stop the jeans from shipping. They hit shelves in Sweden on December 4, 2009, though you can order them from Noko’s website. Just don’t look for them in Pyongyang: it seems jeans are counterrevolutionary.

The Daily Show on a Socialist Sweden

by Grant Martin on

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M – Th 11p / 10c
The Stockholm Syndrome
thedailyshow.com


Wyatt Cenac from the Daily Show filed an excellent report from the Sweden on the Daily Show last night, effectively vocalizing what every single guy is thinking when he’s visiting the country. If this is what Socialism is like, you can sign me up right now.

Stay tuned for the second half of the series tomorrow, or you can check it out in real time on Comedy Central tonight.

Do you collect souvenirs? Or “youvenirs?”

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Upon returning from many trips abroad, I find I am unable to part with what many would consider the “garbage” that accumulates during your travels. I’m not talking about banana peels or tissues – more like readily disposable items such as mass transit tickets, nightclub flyers and entrance passes to monuments.

For example, I have a used subway ticket from Stockholm that I like to keep in my messenger bag. Or there’s the pack of playing cards I picked up in Buenos Aires. Each item is relatively mundane and not really worth displaying, yet it holds a highly personal story.

Every time I stumble upon these items again during my day-to-day life, it causes me to pause for a moment, remembering where the item came from and how I acquired it. For instance, I remember the 20 random minutes I spent in the crowded Stockholm subway station office trying to buy the tickets pictured above. Or that rainy day in Buenos Aires where we had nothing to do and decided to play poker, wandering around for about an hour in search of cards and trying to explain the concept of “playing cards” to local store owners in Spanish.

What do you do with these items? The more ambitious put them in scrapbooks, but I like to think of these disposable travel items as something altogether different – as “youvenirs.” What is a youvenir you might ask? For me, it’s any highly personal travel memento with little monetary value – that fleeting item that you’ve managed to hold onto because of a memorable experience or highly personal anecdote.
It’s for this reason that a youvenir is fundamentally different than a souvenir. Souvenirs are items you purchased with the intention of remembering and commemorating your trip – that beautiful colored glass bottle, an embroided sweatshirt that says “San Francisco” or a jar of Spanish olives you bought in Madrid.

I find myself collecting fewer and fewer souvenirs these days – there’s something about artificially buying an item just to remind me of a place that rings false. But a youvenir on the other hand is grounded in my personal experiences. As artists like Marcel Duchamp or Robert Rauschenberg have demonstrated, there is something profoundly interesting about everyday objects – something mundane and disposable yet incredibly meaningful depending on your personal context and experience with it.

I like to think that the more each of us travel, the less we acquire souvenirs so we can “brag” or give gifts to our friends and instead begin collecting youvenirs – items that have little monetary value but speak specifically to the unique emotions and experiences each of us attaches to travel.

What do you think about the concept of youvenirs? Do you have any memorable items you’ve acquired that would qualfiy? Click below to see our gallery of examples of “youvenirs” and leave some comments about your own favorite youvenirs below.

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Clean living in Stockholm

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Scandinavians are recognized as being on the cutting edge of environmentally-friendly innovation. Nowhere is this clearer than at Hammarby Sjöstad, a community of apartments in Stockholm designed to reduce carbon footprint and generally enable clean living. Large windows make the most of sunlight, especially in the summer, and carefully planned logistics – down to trash pickup schedules – lead to lower emissions and a reduced environmental impact.

Once fully developed, the collection of 11,000 homes, which can be purchased or rented, take advantage of new technological developments to enable conservation without thinking. The consumption of water, for example, is lowered by showers that mix air with water to create the feeling of deluge without the environmental implications. Even raw sewage is converted to energy.

The flaw in most green initiatives – behavior modification – is present at Hammarby Sjöstad. Technology goes only so far, and people have to provide the final push. But, the residents surveyed said that living in there has inspired many to change their lifestyles.

The development is still new and remains a work in progress. The project is expected to be completed in 2015. But, early signs are positive. The home of the future will not resemble some Disneyland fantasy, it seems. Rather, it will reflect Scandinavian sensibility and an effort to keep the planet alive a little longer.

Hotel Hellsten a must in Stockholm

by Tom Johansmeyer on

You expect a certain sleekness when you step into a Scandinavian hotel. The region is known for its nascent design talent, and a pedestrian property would detract from your experience. To get the full flavor of Stockholm, park yourself at the Hotel Hellsten. Comfort and style come together easily in these boutique digs. You’ll close your eyes in the warmth of a soft bed and open them to slick internal scenery.

The hardwood floors are nothing short of charming, and the bathroom is more spacious than what you find elsewhere in Europe. Stretch out in the bathtub (unless you’re taller than I am … in which case you don’t deserve to be enveloped in liquid heat), and forget about home, work and the stack of bills on the kitchen table. This is your time, not theirs.

Most views look out to the street or inward to the small courtyard. My situation was a bit unfortunate, however, as my window opened to the breakfast room. If you occupy my former spot, don’t forget to close the curtains. It’s awkward for everyone, otherwise.

If you stay at the Hotel Hellsten, you’ll find yourself right around the corner from Sweden‘s most amazing hot dogs. The stand serves grilled dogs in a pita with mashed potatoes, onions, lettuce, mustard and ketchup. It sounds unusual (and is), but try it anyway. Then, get a plain hot dog with only mustard, because these dogs can stand on their own. The mustard tastes like that in Iceland, with a hint of the cheese flavor from Oscar Mayer cheesedogs. There’s nothing like it — except in Iceland or at your local supermarket.

[Photo thanks to Hotel Hellsten]