This trend of “demure” reminded me of ONE OF MY FAVORITE brands (who just happens to live and breathe “demure”).

And that’s why we’re here today.

It’s 2014, fashion was making a transition to a loud, bold cut style, I was living in Santa Barbara wearing UCSB Gaucho hoodies to class every day, and there was a new fashion house on the rise in Sweden. 

Flash forward 10 years, this Swedish fashion house has become a wardrobe staple for Jennifer Lawrence & Hailey Bieber, $100M+ business, all while spending virtually NOTHING on marketing. Founded by Elin Kling and Karl Lindman, Swedish fashion house Toteme, is one of the most interesting brands to pick apart.

I actually just went to Sweden and bought 3 things at Toteme. I’ll tell you more later. 

What’s the secret? How did they really scale to a 9-figure business with $0 in traditional digital marketing, in an industry that has become flooded with VC money and deep marketing pockets? Thank you so much for asking.

The secret isn’t a secret. It’s truly just an unwavering focus on their target demo, blatant disregard for trends, and understanding the psychology behind consumer decision-making. 

The origin and idea for Toteme all came from Elin Kling’s own wardrobe needs. A massive walk-in closet with a shit ton of clothes, too many options to choose from, this was NIGHTMARE FUEL for Elin and she wanted to avoid it like the plague. A girl after my own heart. 

Elin realized if she had this perspective, there were more than likely other women who felt the same way, and this gave birth to the idea of “The Toteme Woman.”

**Let me rant for a second, if I may. On face value it seems premature to name your target demo before you’ve even built anything, but it’s essential to know why you exist and whom you serve This is your ICP. And, you must promise to redo it over time as data comes in, but you must promise also to start with a true point of view here. Put a name, photo, even a fake family life to your customer profiles – it’ll humanize your Go-to-Market approach. If you’re picturing an ACTUAL HUMAN on the other side of your campaigns, you’re putting your customer 1st from the beginning. 

The Toteme Woman was built around the aura of a woman who was classic, who appreciated simplicity, and who loved high-quality everything.  

Neutrals, monochromes, earth tones, you get it. Toteme keeps their collections in lockstep with what The Toteme Woman would desire (remember, no cluttered closets). 

It’s logoless, for the most part. Hard to spot, for the most part. The scarf coat (which I own) is pretty telling now that it’s so popular. But, this tank top, who would know except for a fellow owner of said tank top? I own both, and I reach for both, and I hope you can tell that both are Toteme when I wear them because I’m trying to be a cool girl.


Uniform fit and stealth wealth pricing, positions Toteme in this space of IYKYK. Which you know, ALWAYS gets people wanting to know. I’m a copycat so this really makes me buy as evidenced by the scarf coat and tank linked above FML.

They’re using their product and pricing, not marketing $$, to target and attract The Toteme Woman.

But, the secret isn’t just in their identifying and drilling down on their ICP, it’s in their disregard for trends.

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Social media has redefined trends, what’s here today is often gone by next week, and that’s not just with content, but fashion too.

Fashion has and will always be a medium of expression, it’s how we project to our friends, family, frenemies, and coworkers who we are, how we live, and what we value.

(The ICONIC Jennifer Lawrence wearing Toteme’s oversized, cocooning signature coat in a buttery camel shade). I want this. Onto the wishlist it goes now that we’re pre-Fall. 

This is all GREAT, but it means fashion is very volatile, very trends-based.

Elin and Karl knew this and decided to ignore it. They’re on their own time. They’re creating their OWN trends.

And to The Toteme Woman, that’s exactly the type of clothing she wants to wear. 

The media equivalent of evergreen content, Toteme’s collections NEVER go out of style, their shelf-life is substantially longer than their competitors, and the price tag customers are willing to pay is substantially higher.

Which brings up an interesting piece of this puzzle. Every marketer THINKS they know pricing psychology, and they’re literally just pricing their product at $49.99 instead of $50. That’s NOT ALL that pricing psychology encompasses.

Toteme RARELY runs sales, they RARELY run promotions. They’re leveraging pricing psychology all the way. They’re telling their customers, these prices will NOT change for the better. These collections are priced this way FOR A REASON. The scarf coat only gets more expensive each season. Once again, FML because if there’s a new colorway so help me and my self-restraint. 

And with their price tags sitting at an attainable luxury price point, they’re taking full advantage of human psychology placing higher value on products with higher price tags. This isn’t The Row pricing, but it’s close. Kinda like a Cucinelli vs. Loro

Consumer perception of your brand steers the future direction and trajectory of its future, and Toteme is carefully crafting their perception.

Now if you’ll excuse me, Daniel just walked out of the hotel room and iamgonnagobuyapairofTotemeoffwhitedenimsbeforehegetsback (sorry I had to rush typing that LOL).

I buy Toteme and here is what I have and when I got it and if I recommend it:

1️⃣. The scarf coat. Purchased in August 2023. At Holt Renfrew in Vancouver (in person). I recommend because this sucker is WARM. I put a wool sweater underneath and wore throughout the entire winter. Plus, the compliments thrown my way were worth the pain of the pricetag. 

2️⃣. This tank top. Purchased in February 2023. Purchased from the DTC store. Old faithful and have it with me in Hawaii right now. 

3️⃣. This tank top. Purchased in February 2023. I washed it wrong and it’s lost it’s neck. User error. I still wear it because it’s Toteme and I feel cool. (I’m not). 

4️⃣. This blazer. Purchased in July 2024. In Stockholm at their temporary flagship (big flagship was under construction). I have worn it 15 times and it’s the dead of summer. That’s how I feel about this blazer. 

5️⃣. This tank top. Purchased in July 2024. In Stockholm at a department store that I can’t remember the name of. It’s become my airport shirt, if that makes sense. I like this more than all of the other tank tops I own, from Toteme and in general. 

6️⃣. This swimsuit. Purchased August 2024. From Mytheresa’s app that I keep on my phone and I had to choose to order there because I needed rush shipping and Toteme.com doesn’t provide. Had to is a bit of a stretch, I didn’t have to but I bought it for my current trip. I wore it yesterday and felt really comfortable and happy. Of all the swimsuits I wore this trip, this is my favorite. 

I own 6 things. I have worn those 6 things in combo maybe 200 times. The tank tops help the ratio but the cost per wear across the board is the best in my closet. 

Here are 6 things I like about the Toteme website:

1️⃣. The split-screen hero homepage on desktop. 

2️⃣. The full-bleed hero to mega-nav on mobile and desktop. 

3️⃣. The simplicity of the left side of the nav – just New, Shop, About

4️⃣. The shopping bag icon – it’s a hand-drawn bag and it reads like a purse. 

5️⃣. Under the collections page Tops & Blouses, you can navigate by click to T-Shirts & Tanks. This is important because this is a major category for them. 

6️⃣. The video on the About page (below the fold).

Here are 6 things I think Toteme should change:

1️⃣. I shouldn’t be able to buy what I want and have it arrive more quickly somewhere other than Toteme.com. They need expedited shipping, or. they’ll lose more and more % of sales to Net-a-Porter and Mytheresa and whomever else they wholesale to in the future. 

2️⃣. The image in the mega-nav is the same image as is on the left side of the hero homepage. Show us something new. 

3️⃣. Sorry to say it, but Khaite.com still has the best DTC unboxing of this category. It’s art – and as good as is in retail. Khaite x Toteme x The Row share a customer (I know because it’s me LOL). I ALWAYS go direct to Khaite because of said unboxing experience, but half of the time don’t go direct to Toteme. There’s a lesson here. 

4️⃣. The instagram bio needs support. I HAD NO IDEA THAT TOTEME WAS FROM SWEDEN UNTIL I WAS IN SWEDEN AND THEY TOLD ME. That’s crazy because I’d already purchased from the brand for 2 years prior. This should be in the bio. Sets them apart from The Row and Khaite and is the source of their POV. 

5️⃣. I know it’s a bit crazy, but I wonder if the site shouldn’t be white but cream where it’s white. This is a departure but cream comes up in the collection EVERYWHERE ALWAYS and what if they tried it? Nobody is asking me for fashion advice I’M AWARE but I think this is a change that could set them apart. 

6️⃣. THE FILTERING BREAKS ON THE COLLECTIONS PAGES. It works about half the time. I’M SORRY FOR THE CAPS I’M FRUSTRATED. IT JUST STOPS LOADING NEW STYLES UNLESS YOU HIT COMMAND R. This stopped me in my tracks during my swimsuit pre-Hawaii shopping. Don’t cry for me I found a way but that way ended up being Mytheresa. 

In summary, I love the brand. And, I hope to build up my collection over time. I want these next, because I’m still a logo girlie even though I hate myself for it:

Ari Murray
Ari Murray

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