LONDON — Salon C. Lundman was one of the new brands that got buyers talking this past Paris Men’s Fashion Week.
At its first time hosting a showroom in Paris, the brand managed to pick up orders from more than 10 retailers, including Dover Street Market London, Chris Green’s Ven Space in Brooklyn, Mom and Son in Seoul and Biotop in Japan, as well as Nitty Gritty in Stockholm, Mouki Mou in Athens and Harresø in Kolding, Denmark.
The brand offers a personal take from designer Christoffer Lundman on the ideal image of a man today, and a more intellectual and witty interpretation of the burgeoning modern minimalist trend with timeless items rooted in classic tailoring but never stuck in tradition.
That’s not a groundbreaking concept, but what helps the brand stay competitive in a crowded market with players like The Row, Lemaire, Studio Nicholson, and now Veronica Leoni’s Calvin Klein collection, among others, is Lundman’s understanding of the body, fabric and cut from working his way up in the studio system over the past 20 years, and the let’s-have-some-fun carefree attitude that’s ingrained in him.
A Made in Italy suit, for example, was paired with a scarf dotted with buttons on the edge. A rib-knit cardigan was styled with a bud-shaped potpourri pouch around the neck, while a banker-approved statement coat would go together with a childish beanie.
Prices are relatively reasonable for a designer collection. A cotton shirt with hand-stitched lapels retails for 475 euros. An Italian cashmere jumper is priced at 865 euros, while it charges 1,800 euros for a tailored English wool jacket, and 2,295 euros for a handmade double-breasted coat.
A look from Salon C. Lundman fall 2025
Lundman studied under the late, influential professor Louise Wilson and graduated in 2005 from Central Saint Martins with a master’s degree in menswear.
“It was a life-changing experience, and meeting Louise is one of the most important experiences of my life. She changed the way I saw myself and my creativity,” recalled Lundman, whose classmates included designer Louise Goldin, and Norbet Strumpfl, creative director of Brioni.
His graduate collection was presented as part of the press show that year. It featured looks rooted in sartorial attire with playful details such as layered rolled-up sleeves, smocking knits, denim belts and floral decor — things that can also be found in Salon C. Lundman’s fall 2025 collection.
“I didn’t leave CSM thinking I’d be a star. I had really good reception on my MA collection. I had a lot of press. I had shops that were interested in buying. But the truth was, the possibility of starting my own thing back then was just never on the table. I also wanted to work. I wanted to be in an environment surrounded by people,” Lundman said.
A model wears a look by Christoffer Lundman at the Central Saint Martins MA press show in 2005.
PA Images via Getty Images
He later spent 15 years moving around the studio system, working his way up at Acne Studios to become head of menswear. He then joined Burberry as design director during the Christopher Bailey era and served as creative director of Tiger of Sweden between 2017 and 2020.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lundman took a sabbatical to craft the idea of launching his brand. He was awarded a scholarship created by Swedish physician and author Axel Munthe allowing him to stay at Villa San Michele in Capri, Italy.
“The puzzle I tried to solve the first year was how can I do this where I feel that I’m honest with the product I put out, and the customer can feel that honesty too,” he said.
“I wasn’t sure I wanted to work with fashion again, because I felt somewhere along the line that [I] lost touch with the process. I couldn’t identify with anything. Prices were just completely out of reach. So my main idea was to be creative and create a collection for the modern man, maintaining high quality, working with really good people, but still somehow affordable,” added Lundman.
After sorting out a network of suppliers and craftsmen he could work with to launch the brand, the designer began to fine-tune its image.
“When the collection started, I looked around and I didn’t see anyone create images of men for men. I didn’t see anyone really intelligently show masculinity or share honestly their research. I felt that the man that’s projected today is very sanitized,” said Lundman, who then assembled a team of collaborators including stylist Mattias Karlsson and photographer Ben Beagent to conjure a clear brand identity.
“We spent three days together to create this space. Part of the creative process for me is that I always imagine a space. It could be a room or an environment, and then I populate that with people and ideas,” he added.
A look from Salon C. Lundman fall 2025
With help from designer friend Bryan Conway, whom Lundman met more than a decade ago working together on runway collections at Burberry, the first collection under Salon C. Lundman was shown to a small group of friends in Stockholm in 2023. Meanwhile, Lundman moonlights as a creative consultant for the Danish home brand Tekla.
The designer said humor is a big part of Salon C. Lundman’s identity, and that’s mostly seen in the details and through accessories.
The scarves adorned with glass elements and sea shells came from Lundman’s childhood experience of treasure hunting on the beach. Those princely beanies and headbands, meanwhile, represent his satirical take on power and formality.
Through word of mouth, two stores in Japan, St. Pour Homme in Tokyo and HNW in Osaka, bought that first collection.
“I connected with a Japanese designer who bought pieces from me. He wore them in Tokyo. Someone saw them, then a store reached out. I think they responded to the quality, the proportions, and the quirkiness,” Lundman said.
Promising sell-throughs at the Japanese stores and positive feedback from friends encouraged Lundman to bring a bigger, 12-look collection to Paris for fall 2025.
“The first one was quite careful and maybe a bit held back. It was much more classic in proportions, but it was almost like I had to get that out of myself to show that I knew what I was doing. With the second one, there was a huge push three months before Paris, when the collection took shape. It was very instinctive. It grew from gut feeling,” Lundman said.
A look from Salon C. Lundman Fall 2025
Instead of seasonal thematic narratives, Lundman draws inspiration from a wall of images that speak to him: Swedish modernism and Bauhaus architecture, a Medici painting, German artist Joseph Boyce, the late American actor River Phoenix, a gymnast posing, and German director Werner Herzog when he made “Fitzcarraldo” with a ship going over the hill.
“When I feel it’s difficult, I always look at that image and I think if he managed to push the ship over a hill, I should also be able to finish a collection,” quipped Lundman.
Buyers from around the world showed interest.
Dover Street Market asked for exclusivity for London. Gaku Sakomura, creative director at Biotop, a well-respected Japanese multibrand retailer with stores in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka, said he was attracted to the collection’s “clean and even intellectual atmosphere” and he would want to wear these pieces first himself before selling them.
“I haven’t been in Paris for fashion week for quite some time. The last time was when I was doing the shows for Acne. The slower pace this season benefited smaller brands like us. We’ve already decided to go back and book the same showroom for next season,” Lundman said.
