There’s a cool clarity to Bryan Conway’s new collection for Tiger of Sweden that is absolutely refreshing. Whereas in the past it has felt like the designer was hesitating at the edge of the diving board, for spring 2025 he dove unhesitatingly into things while also bringing the work closer to home. Consider an irresistible wrinkled suit in a cotton fabric that has some metal in it to retain its well-worn feeling. It is based on the first tailleur Conway made when studying in London. Back then, the designer said, he’d “just got over my Hedi Slimaine for Dior phase and I got out of those skinny jeans I used to wear.” The remit then, as now, is for ease with sophistication. The combination of wool-silk pajama-like pants with a drawstring and a slightly leaner jacket (a general trend this season) feels just right. And the jacket’s exaggeratedly wide lapel is suggestive of both the transitional period Conway had in mind (the ’60s segueing into the ’70s) and that of a boy becoming a man.
It’s better to call David Hockney the motivating spirit rather than inspiration of this collection because Conway was thinking as much about the way the artist “approaches art” as the man himself. Yes, aspects of the stylish painter’s wardrobe make their way into this offering, but the point was not to be too literal. In fact, we get closer to the designer through Hockney than ever before.“ I think he probably means a lot of things to a lot of people,” said the designer, who is a Brit, like the artist. “It’s really telling a bit of my story kind of through him.” It turns out Conway himself was the missing piece of the puzzle in last season’s Tiger of Sweden collection, which felt true to the brand identity and heritage but impersonal.
Spring’s lineup is freer and more confident, with clothes that are straightforward and desirable. A terrific liquid column with a twisted T-strap is made of a cold-washed silk that gives it a bit of a watery pool effect in the subtlest of nods to Hockney. Conway prefers deep cuffs this season, shorts for men and culottes for women. The formality of tailoring is softened by pairing a suit with a striped knit shirt. A dress might be worn with a boat shoe, a casual outfit with a tasseled loafer. The uncomplicated confidence of this collection suggests a sunlit existence, like the one depicted in Hockney’s paintings, and perhaps in the opening pages of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s greatest work. A smashing double-breasted white suit has all the sleek sophistication of Jay Gatsby, as portrayed by Robert Redford. These are clothes for living the dream.