Introducing NIKBEN
The cultural hub of Stockholm, Sweden has long-been admired. A city with great architecture, a wealth of good-looking, friendly and stylish people and for some years now, the hotbed of easy-to-wear, clean-lined fashion garments.
This cultivated style has not been a mere flash in the pan either, and is now witnessing an evolution, or rather a progression through new and exciting brands that are taking over the mantle. One of those is ‘resort’ wear brand NIKBEN.
Founded by Nicklas Abrahamsson, latterly teaming up with business partner Benjamin Lega, NIKBEN is an eye-catching proposition, where the conventional goes out of the window for a more ‘creative way’ of testing the boundaries of resort wear and its cross over to mainstream fashion.
Working out of Gothenburg in the South West of Sweden, it was Abrahamsson’s childhood growing up in Spain that first attracted him to resort-wear.“We started out with the simple idea of creating a new swimwear brand that was perhaps edgier and offered something different from what I was used to seeing growing up” he says. ”We then started to look at the niche world of resort wear and the possibilities of additional product lines that could cement the brand name,” he adds.
“We are pretty well-known for our prints and we believed that would gives us more space,” says Lega “NIKBEN really flirts with streetwear and is a bit more edgy and we are also a unisex brand without having to shout about it.”
What we witness today is a brand that captures the retro look with what seems like great ease. Their campaign films are humorous, edgy and leave you wanting more, and their photoshoots mix the raw outdoors with the neon lights of Tokyo youth culture. It’s clever, it’s bold and safe to say like nothing else out there.
Terry bowling shirts, long sleeves and kaftans are complimented by a range of shorts in matching fabric and colour-ways, both long and short sleeve retro logo Tees feature alongside statement comedic print bowling shirts taking themes including ‘Rodeo’. Of course the eclectic range of swimwear is as strong as ever, including matching men’s and children’s shorts and women’s swimsuits.
With NIKBEN product being produced across Portugal, Poland and Thailand as well as Turkey, sustainability is also high on the agenda of the business with both some swim shorts and packaging made from either discarded ocean plastics, recycled or organic materials. There is also a distinct focus on the packaging of product.
“We try to create nicely designed packaging like the recycled PVC bag that can be re-used either for keeping wet swimwear in or as a beach bag to carry and protect personal items – phones, wallets etc…,” Lega adds.
Fast forward to 2025 and NIKBEN hopes to have a recognisable market share in both the UK and the US “I think we would like to have an 80%-20% direct to consumer model with an online to physical retail ratio,” says Abrahamsson. “I would also like to see us established in women’s swimwear,” he adds. Whatever the plan. NIKBEN is a brand on the up…
For further information visit www.nikben.com