ICONICLI: The Behind the Scene Crew of Stockholm Fashion Week

Copenhagen Fashion Week is currently at full blast. Just a couple of weeks earlier, however, it was Stockholm Fashion Week time to return for its second consecutive year after a six-year hiatus. The event featured four intensive days of runway shows, showcasing collections from Swedish and international brands, designers, and fashion enthusiasts. The return of the event was warmly welcomed, and Zein Hilow, CEO and founder of ICONICLI, has sought to simplify part of the process behind Stockholm Fashion Week by organizing castings for participating brands.

– We see that the casting process presents the same challenges at Fashion Weeks around the world. Creating one large, centralized casting for an entire Fashion Week represents a major opportunity for everyone involved, Zein Hilow explains.

ICONICLI has acted as an intermediary between modeling agencies and brands, including BeWilder, by organizing a casting featuring 170 models. The casting was conducted in two rounds, during which brand representatives observed the models’ runway walks before selecting the models they were interested in working with. The initiative allowed brands to dedicate more time to other practical aspects of the event, which Hilow emphasizes is particularly important during a timedemanding occasion such as Fashion Week.

Hilow went on to stress that ICONICLI aspires to continue organizing castings for future Fashion Weeks and that these ambitions are not limited to Stockholm. Instead, the company aims to expand internationally.

There is so much else that brands need to focus on, and most of them are very small teams. Organizing their own casting, selecting models, contacting modeling agencies, and managing all those aspects places an enormous amount of pressure on them, Hilow says. These are tasks that not everyone always has the time to handle. 

– We are a digital platform that is easy to scale, and we believe we belong in major markets like these.