Stitch by Stitch: Unraveling Nordic Fashion
By Asha Kannan ‘26
Photos by Lillian Shattuck
Breathtaking fjords, reindeer, cinnamon buns, cold plunges, and wool sweaters: Norway. When I was abroad in Copenhagen in the fall, I spent a week with my class in Tromsø, where we learned about arctic biology, geopolitics, and local culture. One snowy afternoon, my friends and I wandered into a yarn store. We were attracted by the bright spools of yarn dotting floor-to-ceiling shelves and different knitted pieces placed around the store.
Like many other people, I get a lot of my fashion inspiration from social media, mainly from Instagram and Pinterest. For a while now, I’ve been following Norwegian influencer Helene Myhre (@helenemoo on IG). I was immediately drawn to her bright sweaters—pinks, yellows, oranges, blues swirling together in different patterns—with the looming Norwegian cliffs and sunsets in the background of her photos. Before traveling to Norway, I told myself that the one thing I wanted to buy or thrift would be a Norwegian sweater. In the store, I overheard the shopkeeper telling another customer about the benefits of knitting with wool and the significance of the medium in Norwegian culture.
Wool is temperature-regulating, meaning it feels warm in the winter and cool in the summer, so sweaters are worn throughout the year. Most sweaters are made locally, and the sheep whose coats provide the wool live on the dramatic hills and green valleys. Their proximity makes the clothing both sustainable and durable, with no use of chemicals or dyes that can deteriorate the land.
When I went into the store, I saw the price of the sweaters; some were nearly $500! I wasn’t surprised to see the high price, given the sustainable nature of the piece, as well as its ties to Norwegian culture. Infact, some of the sweaters were even spun by hand. Even though the price was hard to swallow, I knew that deep down I wanted a sweater that was most similar to what Helene was wearing—something bright and unique. Helene partners with Skappel Oslo, where she sells knit kits for her sweaters. This partnership speaks to the inherent importance of local sourcing since the customer has a hand in the journey of the sweater to their closet.
Unfortunately, these colorful sweaters have caught the eye of fast fashion brands, particularly Shein. After scrolling through Helene’s page, I saw that she had posted a video of her unwrapping a dupe sweater that cost only 20 euros from Shein. The colors of the sweater were in reverse of the original, and it was made with 100% polyester. I can imagine that many other consumers, like me, were interested in finding a cheaper alternative to the highly priced wool sweater. However, Shein’s product lacks quality and authenticity, which are important to me.
The fast fashion industry emphasizes mass production, astonishingly low prices, and flimsy clothing. Fast fashion produces ~ 92 million tons of waste annually, and contributes to nearly 10% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, harming communities and spreading pesticides to the surrounding environment. (1) These impacts stand in stark contrast to the homemade, locally produced, chemical-free Norwegian sweater.
This dilemma brings me to the following question: What can we do, since most people may not be willing to make the $500 investment on a nice wool sweater? We can choose not to support brands like Shein, Zara, and other companies that outsource production for cheap labor and cheap clothing. We can invest in a circular economy by thrift shopping and recycling unique clothing. We can educate ourselves on the environmental impacts of our choices and take time to understand the stories behind what we wear.
In the end, I didn’t buy the sweater. In Norway, it seems that the process of making the sweater is almost more meaningful than the sweater itself—feeding the sheep, harvesting the wool, and working with local partners to manufacture a sustainable and collaborative product. Instead, I bought the yarn. Slowly, I’m working towards knitting my own sweater, embracing the slower, cleaner, more intentional journey along the way.
Footnotes:
1.“Sustainable Fashion to Take Centre Stage on Zero Waste Day.” UNEP, 2025.
