CZ8 Meets J.Lindeberg’s Neil Lewty

I sat down with Neil Lewty, the Chief Creative Officer at J.Lindeberg, the day after I returned from Copenhagen where, on a whistle-stop tour, I took in the Swedish luxury brand’s Fall Winter 24 show – and spent several hours afterwards sampling the delights of Denmark’s finest crooners at Sam’s Karaoke Bar. Although the off-key tones of that particular establishment left a little to be desired, the runway show was pitch perfect: a noughties-rave inspired melange of skiwear, golf aesthetics, and Bacardi Breezers. Here, Lewty talks about the collection, London, and the brand’s plans for the future.

CZ8
Can you just tell me a little bit about the Clubhouse Fall Winter ‘24 collection? What were the inspirations? How long have you been working on it? 

NL
The concept or theme for this seasonal collection is “clubhouse”. So all the fashion, the sport, the ski, the golf – everything is designed into that one concept. It takes a while to come up with something that can fit every type of garment that we’re designing, but it’s good to have one direction as we’re one company. It feeds off a lot of different things really,  because we’re a brand that likes to connect opposite ideas together – like fashion and sports. I quite liked the idea of this one word having a double meaning. Clubhouse obviously has sports connections – tennis club, a golf club, racquet club – but then it also has music connotations with clubbing and nightclubs. J.Lindeberg has always had a bit of a history with music, so it felt like quite a good moment to revisit that – and especially the Y2K era. I like to describe it as a glitch back and forth, looking a little bit of the hedonism, colours, and carefree vibrancy of the early noughties and mixing it with today’s sensibilities. And then, of course, the Clubhouse concept feeds into the fabrication: you can take a technological approach to the kind of fabrics you use, and play up on that side, with lots of vibrancy of print. But it’s a concept that goes even bigger than just this season for us because obviously, we’ve got am online members club called Clubhouse, and we’re also opening up a flagship store in Seoul at the end of the year which is also going to be called Clubhouse, which will have a member’s room where you can go and receive personal shopping, or station yourself there to do work. It’s like a membership concept, sort of like blending Soho House with Dover Street Market. 

CZ8
So it’s almost branching out into lifestyle?

NL
100%, you’ve nailed it. That’s where we’re going.

CZ8
You mentioned the musical aspect of the collection. I was particularly taken with the soundtrack to the show – it was very cool, very Booka Shade. Could you tell me a little bit more about how that came about?

NL
Yeah, it was with Simon Littauer, a Danish musician who I’ve worked with a couple of times. I did a show here in Stockholm in 2023, and he performed a track live for that, which really impressed me. We kept in touch, and when I knew we were going to do this big show in Copenhagen I knew that it warranted a nostalgic, emotional hardcore track that could send you back to the club scene of the early 2000s. I’ve been watching a lot of rave documentaries recently. It’s back to a time when there weren’t any mobile phones and social media just wasn’t a thing, music was. People dressed like they didn’t really care – there was no following trends or copying what other people were wearing, per se. People would just turn up to these raves in whatever clothing they wanted to. A lot of them were wearing running gear – or compression tops, or cycling shorts – to rave in, and so that really fed into the whole concept of what we’re doing. I thought Simon would be the perfect person to understand that music scene and those references. It was a lot of fun to do. It was an amazing experience.

CZ8
You also talked about where J.Lindeberg sits – that beguiling nexus between sport and fashion. What about that has made you want to explore it more?

NL
I think there’s a relevance to it right now in terms of where fashion is. Over the years we’ve seen so many collaborations between brands like Gucci, with adidas, or Arc’teryx and Jil Sander – all these sports brands, feeding into the fashion brands. It’s also kind of spilled over into sports personalities – people like Ronaldinho walking the runway for KidSuper in Paris. I thought that was a really interesting choice. I think it maybe started with the whole NBA thing: these guys getting off the team buses wearing luxury fashion houses. I think people started to notice that a few years ago, and smart brands have tried to infiltrate our world a little bit. It’s always been there with the footballers and stuff, but it’s gone to the next level now with tennis players walking out with Gucci bags. I think J.Lindeberg has the origins to be able to handle that and to do it in a really authentic way. We’re someone who sportspeople trust. I want to make performance clothes that you can look good in. There’s plenty of brands out there doing it. It’s not like it’s a new concept or anything, but I think J.Lindeberg firmly sits in the middle of both of those ideas.

CZ8
Is there anything else coming up on the radar that we can talk about?

NL
Yeah. We’ve worked with a really great design agency here in Stockholm on a rebrand of the company. So that’s taking shape and will shortly be released. It’s not a complete revolution of the logo or anything, it’s more like an evolution. It was time to revisit that; to refresh it a little bit, which gives us another chance to leverage and push our brand to the next level. So that’s very exciting. We’re opening a new showroom in London as well this year, in the East End somewhere. It’ll be a bigger showroom premises with a small concept store attached. So that’s in the pipeline, which is very, very exciting. And of course, around the corner, we’re sponsoring the kits of the USA Olympic golf team in June at the Paris Games. And then before you know, it will be the LA Games in 2028, which we’re also doing their uniforms for. So that’s a couple of high profile things. We’ve also just released a golf shoe for the first time ever, which is quite a big deal for the company. There’s a lot going on.

CZ8
Amazing, very exciting indeed. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

NL
Obviously CircleZeroEight is UK-based, and I just want to say I think there’s a real position for J.Lindeberg in the market in the UK, because I find the high street quite bland and quite boring. There’s not really many brands that I find that inspiring. The UK is sports mad isn’t it? There’s a great culture, and great fashion.

CZ8
It feels like quite a natural home for it really.

NL
Absolutely. I think it’s got perfect relevance, if you look back at the history of the way people wear sports clothing in the UK. Back when I was young people were stealing North Face jackets out of the outdoor stores, and now it’s just bog-standard popular culture, isn’t it? But that’s how that’s how it all started. I think that kind of tech and streetwear approach makes sense – I mean, the weather’s terrible up north isn’t it? So people need this gear to keep dry and warm. It’s always, always had a point of view. So for me, J.Lindeberg is a great brand to do it, and it’s got a bit of attitude as well.