Held in the Moods of Norway store on Thursday evening on Fashion’s Night Out, the Really Really Blonde Party turned the SoHo neighborhood into an urban fjord of flaxen-haired partygoers. More than 600 guests arrived at 75 Greene Street only to be told by the Viking lady guarding the door that wearing blonde wigs was a must for entry. Upon entering the boutique, the Blonde Bar provided guests blonde wigs and optional hot pink barrettes and neon ponytail holders.
A little piece of Norway
After finally entering the store after the wig styling, attendees saw three golden ski chairlifts hanging from the ceiling. In the chairlifts sat dolls dressed up in Moods of Norway clothes, “drinking” Norwegian vodka.
This summer’s breakout band, Poolside, performed dreamy tunes as disco balls swirled from the ceiling. The partygoers struck their best poses in the dressing room that housed a photo booth, whose images were projected onto the wall of the boutique for all to see.
As people waited in a line that extended down Greene Street, women from the Norwegian Seaman’s Church served traditional Norwegian waffles while young men dressed in candy suits handed out Norwegian chocolate, wrapped in paper bearing well-known Norwegian fairytales.
The brand has its headquarters and showroom in the town of Stryn in Norway, with a population of 6,750. Now opening their second store in the U.S., the guys from Norway definitely know how to dream big.
The three founders seem convinced that the Big Apple is more than ready for a piece of Norway. “We already have a store in Los Angeles, and Americans seem to really like our clothes. Now we want people to have a little piece of Norway all the way from Hollywood to Soho, NYC. This is fun-loving fashion, telling a story about Norwegian culture, habits and history. We use the tractor as our logo. On the sleeve of our suits we embroider the number of how many registered tractors there are in the country of Norway,” said Simen Staalnacke, one of the company’s founders.
All of Moods of Norway’s stores feature something that is typically Norwegian. In L.A., they have a big, old-fashioned tractor that has been painted pink. In N.Y., they now have the golden chairlift. Moods plays with Norwegian traditions, putting a modern twist on them, making them contemporary and cool.
Truly magical
Founder Stefan Dahlkvist said at the end of the night, “We were hoping to take a giant bite out of the Big Apple on Fashion’s Night Out and celebrate our store opening, but this evening exceeded our wildest expectations. Tonight was truly magical.”
U.S. CEO George Santacroce added, “I believe tonight, the founders, Simen, Peder and Stefan, have done what they always aim to do, and that is make their Grandmas proud.”
Asked what they thought about the Norwegian brand opening a boutique in the middle of this important fashion street, partygoers said they were thrilled to see the company’s courage and the willingness to succeed, as well as the willingness to dream and think big.
Norwegian fashion editor Silje Pedersen said she was pleased to see that the people of Moods aren’t afraid to stand out and do things the way they want, despite coming from a small town in a small country that sometimes values conformity over self-expression. She pointed out that Americans tend to have a thing for Scandinavian design, and that Moods of Norway definitely speaks to a niche.