Future Materials Take Over Nationalmuseum for Stockholm Fashion Week

Mycelium boots, fish leather bags, and objects made from oyster shells, reeds, and Swedish wool take center stage at Nationalmuseum on June 11. Through exhibitions, workshops, and talks, Built Different explores the future of materials through the work of emerging creatives and designers.

“We are living through a profound industrial and material transition. The ways we produce, extract resources, and build societies are changing rapidly. If future materials are to make a real impact, they must not only be developed. They must become visible, understandable, and culturally relevant,” says Babak Azarmi, Space By / CVU Studio.

Presented by Space By: STHLMFW in collaboration with Nationalmuseum, Axfoundation, Science Park Borås, and Värmeverket, the program brings together cultural pioneers, designers, and new voices to present, test, and develop new ideas.

Highlights include designer Kevin Mukuri, who will present garments created through a collaboration with Axfoundation exploring how emerging Nordic materials can be translated into fashion. The exhibition also features a mycelium-grown boot by Lars Dittrich and Marie De Ryck, fish leather accessories by Daniel Ankarstrand, wool-based footwear by Philip Remus, reed furniture by Harry Parr-Young, knitted panels made from Swedish wool by Bogil Lee, and design objects created from oyster-shell biocomposites by Sean Barrett and others. Young creatives from Värmeverket’s RE:WORK CAMP also take part, presenting work that explores reuse, fashion, and material experimentation.

“I am because we are, we become because nature provides. SAKA Sneaker and Owasu coat transforms what is overlooked into everyday usable items, reminding us that every material, every being, and every step belongs to a greater whole,” says Kevin Ukuri, Designer & Creative Director.

Through its Future Materials program, Axfoundation has invited designers to work with innovative resources from agriculture and the ocean, exploring their potential for fashion and design. The collaborations on display show how these materials have taken shape in garments, objects, and new design expressions.

“The future of sustainable design cannot be built on polyester. A new generation of bio-based materials is emerging, opening entirely new possibilities for how fashion, products, and interiors can be designed and made,” says Hanna Hobohm Skoog, Program Director Future Materials at Axfoundation.

Visitors will be able to experience the materials firsthand through a pop-up materials atelier hosted by Axfoundation’s Torsåker Farm, where prototypes, fibers, and material samples can be touched and explored. The program also includes Fluffy Encounters, a participatory wool-felting workshop led by Fanfaluca Collective.

The afternoon panel discussion Built Different brings together voices from politics, research, design, and industry to discuss bio-based materials, circular systems, and what next-generation design thinking can look like in practice.

Press Contacts

• Linda Andersson, Media Relations, Axfoundation,
  +46 (0)73 – 087 15 70
• Hanna Hobohm Skoog, Program Director Future Materials, Axfoundation,
  +46 (0)76 – 140 14 75
• Babak Azarmi, Space By / CVU Studio,
  +46 (0)70 – 910 90 22

Event Information

Built Different at Nationalmuseum: A public program exploring future materials, sustainability, and cultural relevance through exhibitions, workshops, and conversations.

Date: June 11, 2026

Time: 11:00 AM–8:00 PM

Venue: Nationalmuseum, Södra Blasieholmshamnen 2, Stockholm, Sweden

Admission: All exhibitions and activities are free of charge. Free admission to the entire museum from 5:00 PM onwards.

Full program: https://www.asfb.se/sthlmfw/home

Program Highlights

• Pop-Up Exhibition: Kevin Mukuri
  11:00 AM–8:00 PM
  A selection of garments created in collaboration with Axfoundation, exploring the possibilities of emerging Nordic materials for fashion.
• Pop-Up Exhibition: Future Materials
  11:00 AM–8:00 PM
  Designers and material innovators showcase how salmon leather, mycelium, oyster shells, reeds, Swedish wool, and other bio-based resources can be transformed into fashion, design, and new creative applications. Featured participants include Kristian Eddé / Daniel Ankarstrand, Sebastian Fältström, Lars Dittrich and Marie De Ryck (Vrije Universiteit Brussel / La Monnaie–De Munt), Philip Remus (Konstfack), Bogil Lee (ToolSpace), Harry Parr-Young, Sean Barrett.
• Pop-Up Exhibition: RE:WORK CAMP
  5:00 PM–8:00 PM
  Students from Värmeverket’s RE:WORK CAMP present works inspired by the exhibition Badin – Beyond Surface and Mask, exploring reuse, fashion, and material experimentation.
• Talk: Built Different
  3:00 PM–4:00 PM
  Design, industry, research, and politics meet to discuss bio-based materials, circular systems, and the future of design thinking. Participants: Alice Bah Kuhnke, Hanna Hobohm Skoog (Axfoundation), Cilla Robach (Nationalmuseum), Ellen Flybäck (Science Park Borås), Felix von Bahder (Deadwood). Moderator: Konrad Olsson
• Talk: David Hellqvist Meets Kevin Mukuri
  4:00 PM–5:00 PM
  A conversation about material innovation and what it means to design with the resources of tomorrow. Drawing on the materials explored through Axfoundation’s work at Torsåker Farm, the discussion examines how fashion can be created differently and why it matters.
• Talks: RE:WORK CAMP
  5:30 PM–6:20 PM
  Students and educators from Värmeverket present a series of short talks about their projects, creative processes, and ideas for the future of fashion and material experimentation.
• Workshop: Fluffy Encounters
  5:00 PM–8:00 PM Join Fanfaluca Collective for a hands-on wet-felting workshop exploring the creative potential of Swedish wool. Participants contribute to a collaborative artwork that will be exhibited at Nationalmuseum during Stockholm Fashion Week while learning about one of the world’s oldest textile fibers and its contemporary relevance for design.

About Space By: STHLMFW

Space By: STHLMFW is a platform within Stockholm Fashion Week that brings together cultural pioneers, emerging designers, and new voices across fashion, design, and material culture. Functioning as both a stage and a meeting place, it creates opportunities for ideas to be presented, tested, and developed through collaboration and public engagement.

For the 2026 edition, Space By: STHLMFW brings together Nationalmuseum, Axfoundation, Science Park Borås, and Värmeverket to explore the theme Built Different.

Built Different focuses on people, materials, and practices that exist outside established systems – resources, knowledge, and approaches that are often overlooked, left behind, or still in transition. Visitors are invited to explore the journey from local fibers and raw materials to design, production, and public experience. By making material innovation visible, tangible, and culturally relevant, Built Different explores how emerging bio-based resources can shape the future of fashion, design, and manufacturing.

Facts: Examples of biobased materials

• Pacific Oysters – from Invasive Species to Resource
• Harvested Reed – Cleans the Sea and Benefits the Land 
• The Swedish Wool Initiative – Industrial-Scale Utilization of Swedish Wool
• Hemp – for food and material applications