Vagabond Shoemakers is a contemporary footwear brand dedicated to true craftsmanship and an everlasting passion for great-looking shoes. Their inspiration is widely drawn from the cultural sphere, but first and foremost from all the interesting people crossing our path at Vagabond. Each collection centres on the concept of everyday style, with durable quality and refined detailing at the heart of the design process.
From December 31, 2023, the founders and owners of Vagabond handed over the entire company, as a gift, to the new Vagabond Shoemakers Foundation. The new form of ownership ensures that surpluses from the Vagabond operations are used for research, education and charity projects within the areas defined in the foundation’s statutes.
Their sustainability mission is to drive a movement toward conscious consumption. By creating shoes and accessories with long-lasting style and quality, “they hope you will love and wear them even longer.”
The framework of their philosophy follows the four C’s: The Craft, The Choice, The Care, and The Change. It all starts in the design studio in Varberg, Sweden. Making shoes last is the first vital step to ease the strain on their environment.
We met the creative director Maria Billson Olander.
What is design today?
Design today is about creating wearable, inclusive, and sustainable styles that shape how we experience ourselves and how we want to be perceived.
What is VAGABOND? And how do you talk about fashion through your shoes?
Vagabond is rooted in a blend of urban exploration and minimalist aesthetics, as well as a solid knowledge in the craft of shoemaking.
How would you describe your style?
The Vagabond aesthetic is a mix of bold silhouettes, and a sense of effortless design, blending everyday wearability withcontemporary style.
We read on your website that “We are a contemporary footwear brand dedicated to true craftsmanship and an everlasting passion for great- looking shoes. Our inspiration is widely drawn from the cultural sphere, but first and foremost from all the interesting people crossing our path at Vagabond.”
What does it mean? Who is your community made up of?
Our community has always been an inspiration to us – the people we encounter and the lives they lead. We love meeting them in our stores, on the city streets and online, and we want to make pieces that makes sense for them and their lives. They consist of diverse individuals who value creativity, as well asversatile and long-lasting design. They are people who appreciate expressing themselves, whether in fashion or lifestyle.
Background?
Before starting Vagabond, our founders Mats Nilsson and Marie Nilson Peterzén built up essential knowledge on the creation of shoes close to the best available artisans within shoemaking in Portugal and Italy. Vagabond Shoemakers was then founded in the beginning of the ’90s, with the global headquarter and design house based in Varberg, Sweden, where it remains to this day. This includes a fully equipped mini factory where all prototypes are born. Since the start, our vision has been to evolve into a global fashion brand within the footwear industry, designed for the fashion and quality-driven consumer. Today we are available on over 45 markets and are still expanding.
Let’s talk about the SS25 you’ve introduced at PFW…Do you have any favourite piece from the collection?
It’s so difficult to choose just one piece! I would have to say either the Livia sock boot, which will be live in August, or the Freya riding boot, also being launched in the beginning of Fall. Both are tall boots, and both exudes an edgy sophistication.
What’s its message? How do you think you elevated the shoes through the garments?
When designing shoes, we always try to make pieces that will be as versatile and as wearable as possible. This means that, depending on how they are styled, the shoes can be dressed up or down, from everyday to evening wear. I would balance bold, statement shoes with simpler, more neutral outfits or style a simple sock boots with a fancy dress.
“Fashion should be a form of escapism, and not a form of imprisonment”, Alexander McQueen said. In 2025, can fashion still be an escape route, a way to escape social conventions?
I wouldn’t say that we see fashion as a form of escapism. Our vision is more rooted in finding creative outlets and ways of making your everyday life better and more exciting through fashion. So, reality rather than escapism, and finding the beauty in everyday life.
A letter to your future self.
I have worked at Vagabond for 25 years, and the longer I have worked, the more I realize that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. When we are new at something and unexperienced, we try to make everything so complicated, also when designing. But creating pieces that are perfectly balanced and with durable design are much more difficult than making pieces that are extreme and over the top. This philosophy is something that I will take with me in my future endeavors.
