Launched in 2017, ARKET is a modern Nordic design and lifestyle destination featuring collections for women, men, children, and the home, along with a seasonal vegetarian café and coffee shop. Inspired by simplicity, nature, and the aesthetics of slow living, our ambition is to present a contemporary marketplace offering a diverse range of garments, objects, and food, all carefully made and artfully curated for a more beautiful everyday life.
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A more beautiful everyday life
The concept of everyday beauty significantly influenced the Nordic modernist movement in the mid-20th century and served as a cornerstone for the development of the ARKET brand. Coined in 1919 by Swedish art historian Gregor Paulsson, the slogan "More beautiful everyday goods" captured a new, democratic approach aimed at bridging the fields of art, handicrafts, and utilitarian design to create affordable, accessible items for daily life. In the Nordic region, this aspiration embraced a new aesthetic characterised by clean lines, a neutral colour palette, and solid materials drawn from nature and the northern climate. Above all, it prioritised functionality and longevity as the basis of good design.
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Long-lasting design
We believe that the foundation of sustainability in the retail world should be a focus on longevity and purposeful design. Our aim is to provide a curated selection of garments and goods that are not only beautifully designed and visually inspiring but also have a clear function and meaning in our everyday lives. Our products are carefully crafted to outlast short-lived trends, to be used and cherished for many years, and eventually handed down to someone else.
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Our stores
A modern-day market is how we envision the brand: an inspiring design and lifestyle destination with a broad, edited assortment for the entire family, along with a seasonal Nordic café under one roof, representing a slower-paced retail experience with room to breathe. Each of our stores is unique and designed in dialogue with the local architecture, but some of our signature interior features include archive shelving systems in a monochrome palette of soft greys, combined with a variety of natural materials such as solid oak interiors and custom-made terrazzo flooring.
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ARKET CAFÉ
Dedicated to elevating the concept of everyday food, our vegetarian cafés are local hideaways, located inside most ARKET stores. Emphasising seasonality, creativity, and natural ingredients, the menus offer a carefully composed selection of seasonal dishes, sweet treats, limited edition pastries, and speciality coffee. The menus are created by head chef Martin Berg, an early advocate of the New Nordic food movement. With a fine dining background and prior experience as executive chef at several Michelin-starred restaurants, he wants to bring food creativity, quality, and exceptional taste to a wider audience.
Careers
Our design studio and head office are located on Södermalm in Stockholm, Sweden. As a brand and employer, we want to reflect and celebrate the diversity of the world we operate in. Our global outreach is a great responsibility that motivates us to constantly challenge ourselves, stay curious, and grow. Diversity and inclusion are not siloed focus areas but a lens through which we examine our daily work. We value the importance of inviting unique perspectives to the table and tapping into our collective knowledge and experiences. It helps us stay creative and resilient and, most importantly, nurtures an atmosphere where everyone feels welcome, respected, empowered, and heard.
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ARKET Editorial
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The hearty soup
Food|October 2024
Hummus doubles as a great soup base, offering a quick way to compose a warming and comforting meal for the colder seasons. Add ingredients according to the season, and finish off with your favorite toppings.
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Moments of presence with Mario Milana
Interviews|October 2024
The works of Mario Milana focus on the interaction between the body, mind, and objects. With this approach, the Milan-based furniture designer attempts to integrate the habit of presence into everyday life, looking to expand the meditative practice beyond an assigned time and place. ‘If you have to interact with something both physically and mentally, then you're present in that moment.’
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Wild medicine and the freedom of trusting in nature with Signe Siemsen
Interviews|October 2024
Plants have always been a source of both food and medicine, and the knowledge of how to use them has been passed down through generations. However, for most people today, that link is broken, and nature often represents something we need to approach with care. For Signe Siemsen – an herbalist, doula, and craftswoman living in Stockholm – having a relationship with the wild brings healing and meaning to what it means to be human.
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The simplicity of the Skedblad chair
Design|October 2024
The wooden Skedblad chair is a distinctive and quickly recognisable feature of our cafés and store furnishings. Designed in 1933 by Carl Malmsten, one of the most well-known furniture designers and interior architects in the Nordics, the chair is as simple as can be, consisting of only six pieces, with a soft, oval backrest resembling the bowl of a spoon.