A dated history of Totême, from a Swedish style blog to a Stockholm fashion house with flagships on three continents. Every entry below comes from the brand’s own pages, Wikipedia’s founder articles and the press listed under sources; where a date is only known to the year, that is how it is written.
Key facts
- Founded 2014, New York; Stockholm since 2016
- Four flagships: Stockholm 2019, New York 2022, London 2023, Los Angeles 2024
- Altor minority investment 2021; revenue past 100 million euros by 2022
- First Paris runway show 2024; Entrepreneurs of the Year (Dagens Industri) 2024
- 1,518 pieces live on Luxury Handbags on 18 September 2026
Timeline
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2008 | Elin Kling, already the official stylist of Swedish Idol, appears on the TV6 show Hal i vaggen; her blog is one of the most read in Sweden |
| 2009 | Kling wins at Aftonbladet’s Stora bloggpriset, the Swedish blog awards |
| 2010 | Kling dances on TV4’s Let’s Dance |
| 2011 | The Business of Fashion profiles Kling in The Business of Blogging |
| 2014 | Totême is founded in New York by Elin Kling and Karl Lindman; the couple marry the same year, and Lindman designs the logo |
| 2016 | The company moves to Stockholm |
| 2018 | The founders make their Stockholm fashion week debut (Vogue) |
| 2019 | First flagship store opens in Stockholm; Kling launches the print magazine Styleby |
| 2020-21 | E-commerce grows 80 percent through the pandemic; the house reports 85 percent growth over three years and 25 percent margins (WWD) |
| 2021 | Altor takes a minority stake to fund the retail rollout, Asia and the accessories categories; Johanna Andersson is chief executive |
| 2022 | New York flagship opens; annual revenue passes 100 million euros |
| 2023 | London flagship opens |
| 2024 | Los Angeles flagship opens; first runway show in Paris and a New York Fashion Week presentation; Dagens Industri names Kling and Lindman Entrepreneurs of the Year; BoF 500; the Belted bucket bag debuts on the fall runway for the tenth anniversary; the Milkywire regenerative-farming partnership begins |
| 2025 | Show in Paris during couture week in January (Camille Cottin, Caroline de Maigret and Natalia Vodianova in the room); about 150 employees; the 2024/25 sustainability report |
| 2026 | The Contour shoes and the Roam tote debut on the spring runway; Luxury Shoes ’s catalogue reaches 1,518 pieces with the September bags, shoes and jewellery drop |
The founders before the brand
Elin Kling grew up on a farm in Mariestad and moved to Stockholm to work as a fashion journalist. Her blog made her one of the first Swedish fashion influencers before the word existed, and she styled television and wrote for Expressen. Karl Lindman grew up in Bromma, modelled after Bruce Weber discovered him, then worked as an art director at Baron and Baron in New York and as design director at Interview magazine. Both careers explain the house: she knows what a wardrobe needs, he knows how it should be photographed and shown.
“Early on we wanted to explore ways to build Totême without investment. In order to achieve this kind of organic growth, we had to be really smart about it from the beginning. That resulted in great profit margins, similar to what big brands achieve,” Karl Lindman told WWD in 2021.
Why the Stockholm move mattered
The move in 2016 looked like a retreat from the fashion capitals and turned out to be the point. Lindman has said that being outside the fashion centre let the house define itself, and that Sweden’s reputation for equality and sustainability is part of what customers connect with. The flagships came later and slowly: Stockholm first, then New York, London and Los Angeles at roughly one a year, funded by a business that was profitable before it took investment.
“For us, being outside that fashion center became really interesting in defining what we do. Also, Sweden has a very modern society, it stands for equality and sustainability, so people connect with our brand on that level, too,” Karl Lindman told WWD in 2021 of the decision to base the house in Stockholm.
What the archive looks like on Luxury Handbags today
Coveti’s Totême catalogue spans several seasons at once, which is how the house designs: 330 pieces from fall 2026, 234 from spring 2026 and 138 from the permanent Signature line, beside the earlier seasons that are still in stock. The Signatures page explains the permanent pieces, and the fall 2026 edit and spring 2026 edit cover the current seasons.
“TOTEME is a fashion house rooted in Swedish sensibilities, modern aspirations and the notion of style,” the house writes on toteme.com. “With an appreciation for women’s many roles and how pieces are worn in practice, we create emblematic designs with an emphasis on materiality and shape.”
Frequently asked questions
When was Totême founded?
In 2014, in New York, by Elin Kling and Karl Lindman. The company moved to Stockholm in 2016.
When did Totême open its first store?
In 2019, in Stockholm. New York followed in 2022, London in 2023 and Los Angeles in 2024.
When did Totême first show in Paris?
In 2024, the year the house also presented at New York Fashion Week. The January 2025 show ran during couture week.
Who invested in Totême?
Altor, a Swedish investment fund, took a minority stake in 2021. The founders had grown the business without outside money until then.
How big is Totême?
Revenue passed 100 million euros by 2022 and the house employed about 150 people by early 2025, according to The Telegraph. The brand does not publish current figures.
Is Totême still run by its founders?
Yes. Elin Kling leads the collections and Karl Lindman the brand, its identity and its stores.
Read next
Who is Totême? The Signatures Our Totême review Brands like Totême
More Totême guides
Every Totême page by Luxury Shoes ’s fashion editor Gemma Deeks: Is it a luxury brand?, How to style, Brands like Totême, The edit, Who is Totême?, Size guide, Shoe size guide, Price guide, Where to buy, Sale, Review, Real vs fake, Materials and care, Glossary, Who wears it, vs The Row, vs Khaite, Capsule wardrobe, The Signatures, Fall winter 2026, Spring summer 2026, Coats, Scarf jackets and coats, Jackets and blazers, Shearling, Knitwear, Dresses, Trousers, Jeans and denim, Skirts, Tops and shirts, Swim and beachwear, Leather, Bag guide, T-Lock bags, Belted tote, Shoe guide, Boots, Flip flops, Sneakers, Jewellery guide, Sunglasses, Scarves, Black, Camel, beige and brown, White and ivory.
Sources and method
Checked on 18 September 2026 by Gemma Deeks, fashion editor at Luxury Shoes . Product facts, the compositions, care lines, dimensions, heel heights and country of manufacture, are the brand’s own product-page text; counts, prices and price ranges are Luxury Shoes ’s live catalogue on that date and move with stock; the founders’ biography and the house history come from the brand’s own pages and the press articles listed below, each read on the date above; the size scales are the brand’s own. Where a claim could not be checked against one of these it was left out, and where the fitting room is giving its own advice the page says so.
- toteme.com, About: the house’s own description of itself, its founders and the atelier in Stockholm
- toteme.com, Sustainability: the Signatures, the design principles, the Milkywire partnership and the 2024/25 report
- toteme.com, FAQ: shipping countries, duties, payment and returns on the brand’s own store
- toteme.com, Stores: the flagship list by country
- Totême product pages: the description, composition, care, size-guide and country-of-manufacture lines of every style (1,297 pages saved between June and September 2026)
- Elin Kling on Wikipedia
- Karl Lindman on Wikipedia
- Wikidata Q4959117
- WWD, With New Investment, Totême Shoots for the Stars (2021): the Altor minority investment, growth and margin figures and the founders’ quotes
- The Telegraph, Lisa Armstrong, 24 February 2025 (via Yahoo Life): revenue, headcount, the Paris show and Elin Kling’s quotes
- Vogue Scandinavia: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden’s favourite Nordic brands
- The Business of Fashion, BoF 500: Elin Kling and Karl Lindman
- toteme.com, Garderob: the house’s curation of permanent wardrobe pieces
- Luxury Handbags live catalogue, 18 September 2026: prices, sizes and stock
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