A conversation about how the Swedes do business with textile designer, Cathy Nordstrom.

A few years ago, I had a conversation with Taymoor Atigetchi, founder of Papier about the impact of his Iranian roots on the way that he does business. That train of thought stayed with me. And stayed with me. And stayed with me to the point of preoccupation.And so now, a series of interviews with entrepreneurs across a variety of countries and cultures.

I want to look beyond the accepted clichés and celebrate the variety of approaches to what makes for ‘good business’. I want to explore customs, political systems, climate, temperament, geography and expectations. What motivates, delights, disappoints. I hope to celebrate the breadth of style and approach, the idiosyncratic, the different.

And so we begin our journey in Sweden. Cathy Nordstrom is the founder of her eponymous textile brand based in Stockholm. She has a look and style that says, come and sit down, I’ll pour you a proper drink, put on some Fleetwood Mac and we will have a fantastic chat. Even more wonderful is the fact that her pieces are designed, hand printed and produced in Sweden. Inspired by a sometimes forgotten Swedish heritage of colour, geometric and floral design, her love for pattern and textiles is contagious. After many years in graphic and then pattern design, Cathy opened her own company in 2019 and it has quickly found it’s way onto the design landscape. She says every room gets better with textiles and her aim is always to encourage us to select pieces that make our hearts sing. In Swedish, of course.