On the morning of Leona Lundback, Leon Lindgren, and Mira Leff’s second fashion show, the Swedish trio are visibly buzzing. The energy is palpable as the designers dial in, prepping for their off-schedule show, happening alongside Stockholm Fashion Week. Lundback, who is also walking the runway, is sitting with rollers in their hair. The other designers within the group are equally pumped, anticipating “a big crowd” for their sophomore show, and third collection overall.

Lundback, Lindgren and Leff met during their school days in Oslo, at Stenebyskola, a state-funded fashion school. “We started small in Oslo by self-styling and starring in our own shoots,” Lundback says. “Soon our design pieces were being mistaken for each other’s, and when we moved to Stockholm in 2024 we decided to try out designing together for real.”

The brand the trio formed, LLL, operates at the bleeding edge of queer utopian and dystopian expression. The designers see themselves as not just designing clothes, but building armour for a generation torn between everyday Swedish minimalism and a burning desire for self-expression. What does this look like? Think spliced corsets, patterns splashed across pannier skirts, and cardboard hats infused with historical Swedish references.

For the third collection, Speakeasy, staged at the Färgfabriken art gallery, inspiration derived from what resistance looks like for them, illustrated in 25 runway looks. A white, otherwise lifeless room was revived through archetypes of sweat-drenched party-goers and sailors fresh off the docks, to middle class, stiff upper lip women who dared enter the LLL world. Also feeding into the collection was the decadence of Weimar-era cabaret, vaudeville, and the razor-sharp cynicism of “Pirate Jenny”, the famous song from Bertolt Brecht’s 1928 Threepenny Opera.

As all members of LLL identify as queer, communicating directly with the community they’re part of is crucial. “We have seen political change happen in Sweden for about a decade now, [towards] a much more conservative ideal,” says Leon. “The outside world might not feel like it’s built for you, but LLL is.”

LLL’s historical deep-dives remind us that creativity leads to radical and beautiful exaggerations. By subverting history and resisting of conservative pushback, they tell story of modern survival. It’s a glamorous declaration that, when the state tries to shut down the party, the underground simply builds something bigger and bolder.

Below, we catch up with the underground trio about escapism as a form of resistance, the restraint of traditional Scandi fashion, and becoming “three brains in one organism”.

For people discovering LLL for the first time, what kind of universe are you inviting them into?

LLL: For Speakeasy, we are inviting people into a very colourful world of glamour, hidden inside a really grey world. Like a haven, really. It’s a collision of Swedish historical references mixed with pure feminine spectacle and fantasy. When you enter the world of LLL, you always have one foot in fantasy and one foot in reality.

“LLL is turning into almost one combined person, like three brains inside one organism. You have to fight for what you want, which pushes us to explore our boundaries and be incredibly real with each other”

Because LLL is made of three creative voices, how do you balance your individual perspectives while building this world?

LLL: It’s an ongoing process really, since we started last year, but it has fast becoming a method for our artistic expression. LLL is turning into almost one combined person, like three brains inside one organism. You have to fight for what you want, which pushes us to explore our boundaries and be incredibly real with each other. Everyone has to bring something to the table.

We all speak very freely, but the magic happens when we edit those thoughts into one and react to each other’s work. If there is a piece in the studio, we all gather around it and react. We are allowed to work individually within our process but we never do anything alone. We find new silhouettes by combining ideas, and a silhouette we thought of at the beginning might become something entirely new. We all have a finger in every single garment.

The LLL world feels like its own universe. Has building that narrative always been as important to you as the actual clothing?

LLL: Absolutely. It’s a core method for us. Once we built that world we then focus directly on the garments. What world these characters live in and then building a narrative or a story. From that story we ask ‘Who are these people? What are they wearing? What does their wardrobe look like? How do they style it together?’.

Speakeasy is imagined as a place for escapism and freedom. What sparked that idea?

LLL: It comes from our current political climate in Sweden. The ruling party is driving a much more conservative agenda and we are just imagining a future where that trajectory becomes a total dystopia. Instead of just worrying or commenting on what’s happening, we just imagine.

It’s actually a little soothing. We are taught to just be ‘okay,’ but we had to ask ourselves, ‘if everything we fear actually happens in Sweden, what will we do?’. LLL is inspired by that dystopia and mystery.

You’ve described your work as existing somewhere between queer utopia and dystopia. What does that space allow you to explore particularly within the current cultural climate in Sweden?

LLL: It feels very dystopian, but we see that dystopia as an opportunity to create something entirely new apart from reality.

Traditional Scandinavian fashion is often portrayed as being clean, restrained, or minimalistic. Would you say LLL is rebellious in that way?

LLL: We think people are secretly longing for it. Just because it isn’t regular Scandinavian fashion it’s almost easier for us to bridge out of that. The Speakeasy collection is our fun, loud reaction to that restraint.

Finally, what kind of future is LLL imagining?

LLL: We’re taking over the world! We want to become an international brand and – we hate this word – but redefine what fashion can be. Maybe we want to work with theatre costumes. Maybe we want to design couture, ready-to-wear, or maybe we want to design custom costumes for the National Opera all at the same time. What is exciting is that we are still discovering what LLL can be.

LLL is supported by the Swedish Fashion Council and joined its Incubator program last year, alongside global brands Hodakova and August Barron.