Behind the brand: Swedish Linens

Who are Swedish Linens and where are you based?

The company was founded by me, Hannah, a fashion and textile designer and a mom of two young boys. I own and run the company together with Ilan, an old friend, who is an entrepreneur and also a father of two boys.

We are based in Uppsala - a very old city located 40 minutes north of Stockholm. The university is the oldest in Scandinavia, founded in 1477, so the city is buzzing with students. Uppsala is also the home of some very interesting people throughout the history, Ingmar Bergman to name one!

Tell us about your products and what makes them so special?

We specialize in printed bed sheets. We believe sheets are the underdog of bedding, literally! It’s so often neglected compared to bed sets, while really, it’s the most important thing in your bed. It’s the base of it all, it’s the piece of fabric that we sleep on and have most contact with our skin. Especially for kids who kick the duvet in their sleep.

Our goal is to create very high quality bed sheets with the least impact on the environment, but still make it affordable.

Our sheets are made of 100% organic cotton percale and they are both Oeko-tex and GOTS certified, which means that the entire process - from picking the cotton down to the glue in the packaging - is being controlled and certified based on the most strict rules in the textile industry today.

Since we started our company from scratch we wanted to make it the best as we can. We chose to produce in Portugal, partly because they are the best in making bedding but also because we wanted to produce in Europe and to be able to visit the factory regularly.

We only use digital print on our sheets because not only it results in a higher quality and softer finish but it is also better for the environment because it requires much less power and water compared to traditional methods of printing.

Another focus of ours - other than the quality and the environment - is of course the design. Scandinavian, minimalistic yet playful and timeless design that will not go out of fashion is what we stand for. We want to encourage people to slow down, buy less and invest in quality that will last for years and kids to come!  

What inspired you to start Swedish Linens?

I remember when I first became a mother I got overwhelmed by the lack of sleep and how our life suddenly revolved around sleep. My oldest would only sleep in our arms and would wake up as soon as we put him down in his crib.

18 months later my second boy was born and he wasn’t very fond of the crib either. That really made me think a lot about how I could turn their beds into something more inviting, somewhere they want to be and that makes them feel safe. For myself I always choose organic percale sheets because I like how soft it becomes over time and the crispy cool feeling. But finding pretty, organic and high quality sheets for the kids was just impossible, and that’s how it all started.

What are your plans for the future?

We face a huge challenge since most people don’t care about bed sheets. We want to show the advantages and the importance of sheets, and make it affordable enough for people to be able to start using high quality sheets on a daily basis.

Many people focus just on the duvet cover and pillowcase because that’s what is visible once the bed is made. But we want to turn it all around! It’s actually much better to leave the bed unmade and let it air (which is a good idea especially if you want to minimize dust mites in the bed). We encourage less focus on the bed set and more focus on the bed sheet. Let it be the center of the bed and a part of the room decor as a whole.

In terms of new products we are currently working on new designs to be released later this year. And we are also going to release sheets for double beds which we are really excited about!

You can shop our Swedish Linens collection here