You may have noticed that Swedish culture has recently become the focus of more international attention than it has had since Ikea started flogging flatpack furniture to the Chinese.

The reason for this new interest is Swedish detective fiction, which has been quietly outselling other branches of the genre for a while now. And this popularity is not just confined to print.

Swedish crime stories have been enjoying critical acclaim on our small and large screens too, courtesy of Henning Mankell's detective Wallander and the movie of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (due for UK release in March) from the novel by the late Stieg Larsson.

It‘s because of Larsson’s popularity that a lot of people outside Sweden have actually heard of Umeå. This northern coastal city, some 600km from Stockholm, is where the novelist spent his adult life and where he found the inspiration for Dragon Tattoo’s heroine Lisbeth Selander.

If punky, spunky Lisbeth (played in the movie by Noomi Rapace) were real, then she would surely be a customer of Naucler Design, the Umeå-based latex label now emerging as a high-end player on the world stage.

If partners Sophie Nauclér and Martin Larsson have their way, 2010 will be the real breakthrough year for their brand. They made their London debut at December’s Rubber Ball, plan to launch their next collection at the German Fetish Ball in May, and are going all out this year to broaden their market beyond Sweden and beyond fetish.

How and why Naucler Design started is very much an example of the butterfly effect, apparently. Essentially, it all began five years ago, when Sophie and Martin met, and it was love at first sight.

Sophie, it seems, fell in love not only with Martin, but also with his latex wardrobe. And the problem they had, being in Umeå, was that though the city might boast two universities, a bunch of technical research facilities and a youthful population, it had no clubs for rubber enthusiasts (and still doesn’t).

“So we had to create our own clothes that blended in a bit more with the dress style of the general public, so that we could go clubbing in latex anyway,” says Sophie. As a result, in 2006 Naucler Design was born, with the initial objective of making clothes and accessories mainly for themselves and their friends.

‘We had to create our own clothes that blended in more with the dress style of the general public, so we could go clubbing in latex anyway’

It doubtless helped that Sophie had a background in making (non-latex) clothes for another label and had trained to teach textile crafting, while Martin’s background was in auditing. Sophie thus became Naucler’s main designer and producer, while Martin is the label’s number cruncher doing patterns and admin.

Perhaps because of the necessity from which Naucler’s invention sprang, the couple’s website blurb emphasises the wearability and non-sleazy nature of their garments. But at the same time their company logo includes the slogan “Swedish sin”. Why?

“We have a bit of a duality — the light vs dark, the public vs the kinky etc,” Martin admits. “We also want to emphasise the Swedish, and the Swedish quality in our crafting.

“So when we started Naucler Design, instead of looking at how others in the scene were profiling themselves, we were looking at how Swedish companies and mainstream designers did it, then doing that with a little twist. In other words we try to have one foot in the fetish scene and one in fashion.”

“You can put as much effort as you like into making latex clothes mainstream,” adds Sophie, “but it will still have that sinful feeling.”

Achieving the precise balance they want between "sexy" and "everyday" is, she reckons, first about the expression. “Then it is much a question of team work with the stylists, photographers, models and us. It is, however, not as complicated as it might sound.”

Asked what they believe is the unique selling point of their brand, the couple reckon it’s “always hard to judge your own designs”.

“What we think and have heard is that we always have an element of surprise, that when you think that you have figured us out, we do something new and improved. But main guiding lights are always quality, sensuality and a twist.”

Like most mainstream designers, Sophie focuses on designing themed collections, for which “the past, present and future” are her inspirations. “Our last collection, Kill Your Darlings, has Film Noir (with subgenres) as its leading source of influence,” she explains.

The new collection being unveiled in Hamburg is expected to have strong appeal both to fetishists and those who like futuristic styling. From its title, The World of Tomorrow, one might guess that this collection also has a movie influence. For a sneaky peek, check out the outfit worn by Sister Sinister in the info panel on the right.

If you haven’t already been convinced by our March edition cover image of Sister Sinister by Marcus Gunnarsson, a quick browse through our gallery (above right) from the current collection should confirm that a central plank in Naucler’s marketing is their insistence on really high quality website photography.

And much of it has been produced close to home, as Martin explains:

“We started out very locally focused for photography. There are so many talented people close by — the photographer Jocke Jonsson to name but one — so it would be a waste not to use them.”

‘We feel that we and Sister Sinister connect really well, but how can you do otherwise with a natural latex super- model like her?’

Looking beyond their own backyard, they discovered such talents as Uppsala-based Gunnarsson and Stockholm model Tifa DeLeone, with whom they’ve begun a substantial collaboration. 

“This dynamic duo have brought something really fresh to our garments,” says Martin. “So we think we have a good Team Sweden right now, who all emphasise our idea of the new latex look: high quality and beauty, where fetish meets fashion.”

The label’s partnership with Sister Sinister has also worked out rather well. “She lived in the same town as us and we had mutual friends, so it became quite natural to collaborate,” says Sophie.

“We feel that we and Sister Sinister connect really well, but how can you do otherwise with a natural latex supermodel like her? Since we want her as a model and she adores our clothes, the rest is, as they say, history.”

The Swedish fetish supermodel has certainly been a good ambassador for Naucler at recent international fetish events. And now the label itself is becoming more directly involved in international promotion, which can only be a good thing.

“We are always trying to make it easier for our customers and customers-to-be to find us,” says Martin. “Living like we do in the middle of nowhere means we have to travel and have a working website. We also need good coverage from the media.

“The thing about living in a small town such as Umeå is that there is not that much to do but create new clothes. You can't go snowmobiling all the time, so there is much time left for work. But at the same time, Umeå is big enough to hold many talented photographers, models, stylists etc. So Umeå is really the right size for us.”

The internet, of course, has made the physical location of fetish businesses and their distances from potential markets much less relevant today. For Naucler, not only does this mean that their biggest domestic audience in Stockholm is easy to reach, but that markets beyond Sweden feel just as accessible.

This year, the couple’s efforts to take their designs to the mainstream will see them stage their annual fashion show on the main stage on Umeå Kulturnatta (a free festival with some 50,000 visitors), another fashion show at Umeå Gay Pride Festival, and at least a showcase, but probably also a fashion show at Umeå Fashion Weekend. Other mainstream events are also being planned.

Meanwhile, there’s evidence of growing demand for latex from Sweden’s fetishists. Naucler have just added a retailer some 500km north of Umeå in a town called Malmberget. And says Sophie, most people at Stockholm’s famous fetish club Dekadance now wear latex “whereas when we went there in 2005, we were among very few people wearing it”.  

She says the scene has definitely spread beyond Stockholm and Gothenburg, though these two cities still have the most clubs, and overall there are still only a few Swedish clubs with a fetish dresscode, which limits the opportunities for dress-up partying.

As for those Swedish detective writers? “We wish more of them would write about latex,” says Martin, “but that is probably too far away right now. Still, the more good associations there are with Sweden, Swedes and Swedish handicraft, the better for us, no doubt.”

Which brings us, finally, to the most important question of all: who is the best television Wallander — Krister Henriksson or Kenneth Branagh?

“Neither of us has seen the British version of Wallander, so it is hard to say,” says Martin. “But the best Swedish Wallander is Rolf Lassgård.”

Whaaat? Is he telling us there are three Wallanders, including one even BBC4 has never heard of? Unbelievable!

‘Neither of us has seen the British television version of Wallander. But the best Swedish Wallander is Rolf Lassgård’