BLK DNM, Johan Lindeberg insists, operates apart from the constant wax and wane of fashion trends and fashion seasons. "BLK DNM is a manifesto of everything I've done in my life," he said, pointing at a tuxedo-gone-casual look. "This look, I've done since 1997"—then under the auspices of J. Lindeberg, his namesake former label, and then in Milan, not New York—"and I still love it."
Lindeberg likes to say that BLK DNM is about three things: tailoring, leather, and denim. So, check, check, check. The now-classic motorcycle jacket he's tweaked to his own specs continues to fly out the door. So do the jeans, in umpteen washes and a variety of cuts. And the tailoring—"the best tailoring I've done in my career," he says—is a bargain at $495 to $695 for jackets.
"Timeless" isn't quite the right word, but there is a sense that you've seen these clothes before. Lindeberg, you have to imagine, wouldn't object to that. "H&M and Ikea are born in my home country," he says. "In a small country, it's value for money." BLK DNM is that, and the world is catching on. GQ named him one of its Best New Menswear Designers in America this year. "New" is a misnomer, of course. But a moto jacket and an elongated bomber in a slick, slippery Japanese satin suggests he's still got tricks up his sleeve.
