Boutique news, Europe: Sofia Johansson Opazo announces the opening of her new independent Stockholm “galleria”, specialising in luxury sunglasses: “the idea was to create something a bit more edgy and 100% focused on sunglasses”
The new StureOptikern store provides a curated selection of sunglasses by StureOptikern in a neighbouring area of Stockholm. Located less then 10 minutes by foot from the original store, the new space is designed for a different clientele. “Our small cosy sunglasses galleria is in a perfect location for lunch and shopping, a destination for the ones who really know what they want!”
We asked Sofia how she selected brands for the space. She told Eyestylist: “We more or less asked our best and closest suppliers who wanted to jump onboard for this project – it was a little bit “last man standing” and “if you snooze you loose!” We had some brands who actually did and now they regret it. But then, we also know our brands and customers very well. For example, we carry a lot of brands that are not really “approved” by our business in general. Less independent brands are left in our store and that is for two reasons – they have opened too many doors too close to us and aren’t that “selective”. They are always quite hard to work with, we need fast decisions, high marketing interest and social media awareness – we need them to be very aware of our Nordic market and our sense of fashion because we are very early adopters.”
Sofia says the dream is 100% that this new location will be a hot spot for all seasons coming, anything from the latest sunglasses to ski googles! “The location and interior is also quite unique”, she says, “I really hope people will find the new place to widen their sunglass wardrobe!” Above: Sofia Johansson Opazo in the new galleria in Stockholm
Asked to brief us on the key trends customers are looking for she told Eyestylist: “To be totally honest, we don’t really do trends! Our customer is so brand aware and also very driven about what we think and recommend, therefore I’m very proud of my confident team. The whole minimalistic “MiuMiu” trend more or less started in our store, we had a big event with two of Sweden and the Nordics’ biggest influencers and after that the trend exploded – in Europe, but as I said – we are early adopters!
Every brand has its own DNA and for us we need to find OUR customer in each brand – that means everything can’t look the same. We have to select what type of person the brand stands for in our store. Therefore the selection can look different in our store versus others. We hate it when the agents says: “This is a bestseller! A big NO-from us then!”
Sofia is consistent in her deep research of the optical market and connection with eyewear brands around the world and she travels to multiple international eyewear events and showrooms throughout the year to stay apace of what’s happening from a global perspective. We asked about designs she has her eye on for the new season: “Overall I would say that I’m a sucker for a big pilot with a gradient lens, you can never go wrong with that, but as I said, it depends on the look you are going for! You need a wardrobe of 3-4 pieces to match with the rest of your wardobe, because let’s be real, you don’t have one pair of shoes or one handbag!”
The store is big on collabs and several of the very latest launches are already available in the new store – sometimes they are created with input from StureOptikern to fit the demographic perfectly. “We have dropped a limited edition Loewe frame in a special colour, and we are releasing a very very limited edition with Oscar Magnuson in Havana. In June, I have sourced a colour that has never been made by Moscot – with an aperitivo lens that’s also photochromic….
That collab actually took place in my head last summer when I really felt that Latin music was coming back for 2026. I was right! Bad Bunny onstage for Super Bowl and Karol G killing it at Coachella this year really spoke to my gut feeling. Inspired by vibes from Latin America, the colour “Tequila” took its form and will land on our shelves in early June!”
Find out more about the new StureOptikern store in Stockholm at www.https://stureoptikern.se
Photography by StureOptikern. All rights reserved.
StureOptikern/ MOOD City, Regeringsgatan 48 11144 Stockholm, Sweden