Considering the immediate resonance and now-cult following of its women’s collection, 12 years is quite a substantial amount of time to wait before making a menswear line. But for TOTEME, it was also the point. The Stockholm label built its reputation on certain archetypes – the scarf jacket, the cocoon coat, structured tailoring – and on the conviction that a wardrobe earns its authority and trust slowly, piece by piece, rather than all at once. That same sense of discipline, says cofounder Karl Lindman, is exactly what made the brand hold off on menswear until now.

“It was very important for us to establish our world of womenswear and develop a connection with our customer,” Lindman says. “I think the broader you go about doing things, the tougher it is to build something meaningful.” It was only in the past two years, he says, that exploring menswear felt like a natural progression and something that he and Elin Kling, his cofounder and wife, after much deliberation, were eager to do.

Crucially, the new line wasn’t simply handed down from the women’s studio. “It was very important for us to approach menswear differently,” Lindman says. “We didn’t want to be a womenswear brand designing some menswear on the side to sell to their customers’ boyfriends. It’s really about going down and getting very precise and nerdy about how we can bring something new to the table.”

That precision arrived with Alexander Häggblad, the label’s menswear design director – Swedish, like Lindman and Kling, and returning to Stockholm after more than 10 years in Paris, with stints at CELINE, Balenciaga and SAINT LAURENT under his belt. “He has this deep knowledge and is very nerdy when it comes to every specific style,” Lindman says. “In order to deconstruct the classics, you need to know the real thing, and go down to the source of a product.”

The obsession with provenance, origin and detail is slowly changing how the brand works. For instance, production of some denim styles was moved to Japan, for both men’s and women’s. Focusing on craftsmanship, Lindman thinks, fits better with how men actually shop: “I don’t think men are necessarily always looking for the next new coat or that new cut of a suit. It’s very much about the fundamentals – mastering the essentials of a man’s wardrobe.”

Some of womenswear’s most recognisable codes have quietly crossed over, though never by default. “We definitely look at our library of styles and our design heritage, and that inspires us, but it’s not something we feel obligated to follow,” Lindman says. The brand’s signature scarf coat reappears in a peacoat and softer cardigan form, also reworked with a wrap-scarf detail.

Elsewhere, some of Lindman’s personal highlights include the biker jackets in brown and black. “I would probably pick a pair of our denim and a leather jacket,” he says. “It has the right amount of attitude.” For MR PORTER specifically, his standout piece arrives later in the season – a red and black puffer, exclusive to us, landing later this season. “Being from the north, well-made outerwear is something we really value and stand behind,” he says.

The way Lindman dresses himself and TOTEME’s men’s line borrow from each other – but in the sense that his stamp of approval is the ultimate test for each piece. “What’s the purpose of this piece? Does it deserve a place in my wardrobe? And does it really cater to our guy? And what does it add to his, or my, wardrobe?” – these are all questions he asks himself before coming up with a new piece.

These classics, reworked through a contemporary lens, mean that the TOTEME guy is hard to pin down. The starting point for the debut collection was “a slightly older man and his grown-up son” – the same pieces worn, handed down and styled differently across generations. It was also a man defined by his curiosity, more than by a specific aesthetic: “an artist, a chef, a musician, a writer, an architect, someone creative... it’s more about how he moves through the world.”

He found himself returning to old footage of Anthony Bourdain. “It’s not that you want to become a chef when you’re looking at what he does – it’s his confidence and curiosity, his appetite for life,” Lindman says. “You can see him put on a pair of jeans, flip-flops, a coat, to go buy bagels in New York in winter. It’s not so much about a full look. It’s more of an attitude."

TOTEME’s vision, then, is a long-term project that will take some refining. “It’s approaching menswear almost like building stones, one by one, to create a brand that guys are very loyal to,” Lindman says. “The biggest compliment is to know that TOTEME deserves a space in his wardrobe.”