From Sthlm to You

By Chadner Navarro
December 12, 2011

Sthlm

While From Sthlm is not officially a wholesaler, it does distribute items from many of the independent Swedish brands it sells on its site to other retailers. Here, a From Sthlm booth at a recent trade show.

For the design divas on your list this holiday season, look no further than From Sthlm. The online retailer (pronounced "from Stockholm" and spelled as the locals do) is a purveyor of hard-to-find, charmingly designed products from, you guessed it...

Founded by San Francisco-based Tiffany Orvet, a TV programmer who runs her site on the side, From Sthlm features a limited selection of merchandise from just one label every month. Previous product highlights include Asian-inspired textiles from Bantie, graphic prints from illustrator Fine Little Day and Åsa Westlund’s hand painted clogs. This month, however, Orvet is offering a rotating selection of merchandise (over 25 pieces at any given time) from a variety of designers, including past bestsellers and new items from brands that have been previously featured. (left: Tiffany Orvet)

Below Orvet discusses how she became so Scandinavian design obsessed (aren’t we all?), how she discovers her designers and what we should do the next time we're lucky enough to visit Sthlm in person.

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Orvet in Stockholm during Stockholm Design Week.

The Inside Source: How did you develop this fascination for Swedish design?

Tiffany Orvet: It wasn't until I started traveling internationally that I really started getting excited about good design. When I met my now-husband, who's Swedish, I had the opportunity to get to know Swedish design in particular, and fell head over heels in love—with both Swedish design and with the man.

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Products by From Sthlm designers Maria Holmer and Barbro Tryberg.

The Inside Source: How did From Sthlm start?

Tiffany Orvet: In Sweden it's common to sell items in shops that originate from Swedish designers and are often made by the smaller artisan craft factories that still exist in Sweden. Unfortunately at that time, very few of those items ever made it to the U.S. I started From Sthlm in 2009 as a way to make the design I'd discovered and fallen in love with in Sweden available in the U.S.

The Inside Source: What do you like most about these products?

Tiffany Orvet: Swedish design tends to be simple yet playful. Black and white are very important colors in Sweden, and so are bright joyful colors to accent white walls and wood floors. Every piece seems to have a little personality of its own, a story of its own. Part of that story in many cases comes from the fact that the pieces aren't made by large companies that are mass producing and racing to get product after product to market. They are made by independent designers who have a personal stake in the product.

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The studio of Camilla Engdahl, who has sold on From Sthlm, in Skövde, Sweden.

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More pieces by Camilla Engdahl.

The Inside Source: How did you decide on this approach instead of, say, a sales showroom or a regular boutique?

Tiffany Orvet: I still work full time developing television shows. I needed to do it in a way that I could maintain it as a side business without letting down either my shop customers or TV clients. Making it an online business gives me incredible reach and flexibility without all of the upfront investment of both time and money that a physical shop would require.

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Products previously featured on From Sthlm: Kitchen towels from Charlotte Swidenand Huset tray from Camp Cirrus.

Postcards from Studio Violet.

The Inside Source: Speaking of the holidays, what’s on at From Sthlm this month?

Tiffany Orvet: For December I'm having a revolving sale that will be changing every few days, so if customers see something they like, they shouldn't delay. Sales include many of the most popular designs that we've featured over the past three years, as well as designs that have never been featured before from the extended lines of the designers we work with.

The Inside Source: You travel to Stockholm often. What’s a must-do in Sweden’s capital city?

Tiffany Orvet: If it's summer you must visit Rosendahls Garden on the island of Djurgården. It's a lovely, large, open working food and flower garden with a cafe, plant shop and gift shop. A great afternoon lunch spot.

This time of year Stockholm is beautifully lit for Christmas and buzzing with open-air Christmas markets. There's one in the central square of the main shopping district, one in the old town of Gamla Stan, and a historic one at Skansen, again on the island of Djurgården. Later in the winter it's fun to be there during Stockholm Design Week in February. There are all kinds of fun design-y exhibits and things going on around town.

Any time of year I highly recommend a visit to Stockholm's Moderna Museet (the Modern Museum) and a stroll from island to island through Östermalm to Gamla Stan to Södermalm. And of course a trip to my favorite shops: NK department store, Svenskt Tenn, Carl Malmsten, and Östermalm's Saluhall (a marvelous food market).

The Inside Source: What do you use eBay for?

Tiffany Orvet: I'm an avid buyer. Sometimes I can find better deals on vintage Scandinavian pieces from eBay sellers in the U.S. than I can find in Scandinavia. I look for ceramics, glassware and fabrics quite a lot—especially Stig Lindberg, Kaj Franck, Rorstrand, Cathrineholm and the like.