Three years after opening her brand’s first pop-up in New York City, Matilda Djerf’s Djerf Avenue is back in the Big Apple for good. The Scandi label has permanently settled in SoHo at 25 Bond St., just down the block from Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop and Gigi Hadid’s Guest in Residence.
“We didn’t do a lot of research about the best city to do the first store in,” Djerf tells Fashionista of the new flagship. “It’s always about the gut feeling, and New York is such a special place for us.”
The 29-year-old Swedish influencer, who launched Djerf Avenue with her fiancé Rasmus Johansson in 2019, cites community events such as the brand’s Guggenheim fashion show as an inflection point for her company, which did $36 million in sales in 2024.
Photo: Jamie Pearl
Although a workplace harassment scandal threatened to throttle Djerf’s momentum, she managed to soften the blow by addressing the allegations — including claims of “bullying” and a “degrading” work environment — head-on. Acknowledging her shortcomings in a public apology, as well as a series of interviews, Djerf chalked it up to being a young, inexperienced first-time founder. Plus, Djerf Avenue’s rapid pace of growth made it challenging to scale.
With the appointment of seasoned retail consultant Nanna Hedlund as interim chief executive officer in 2025, the company promptly expanded its human resources department and created a work environment task force, allowing employees to submit anonymous surveys as feedback. Hedlund stepped down as interim CEO in February 2026 and now sits on Djerf Avenue’s board.
Djerf bounced back with a successful Selfridges pop-up in London a year after the exposé. Within hours of opening, Djerf Avenue purchases made up 70% of the floor’s sales, outpacing even Kim Kardashian’s Skims.
Photo: Jamie Pearl
Perhaps it’s a testament to the quality of Djerf’s products, which are produced in Europe (Portugal, Italy and Sweden, to be exact) and available in sizes XXS to 3XL at a mid-range price point. She successfully expanded the brand beyond clothing and accessories, introducing homeware and beauty products that bolster Djerf Avenue’s mission to serve as a “big sister” to its customers.
This thread also runs through the new NYC boutique, which Djerf said is staffed with employees familiar with the sizing, fit and fabrication of each item.
“As a consumer myself — I’ve shopped in so many stores — the level of expertise [among sales associates] can look very different,” Djerf explains. “Sometimes you walk into a store and you don’t really feel welcome. That’s something we absolutely do not want, and it’s something we learned very quickly with our pop-ups. I wanted to bring Scandinavia to New York but I don’t want it to feel so cold and minimalistic that you’re scared to sit on the couch.”
Photo: Jamie Pearl
The layout of the store, rendered with help from LEAP Architecture, was primarily designed by Djerf herself and takes inspiration from her island summer home in Sweden. (Think warm woods, lots of natural light and high ceilings.) The shop is also decked out in the brand’s best-selling hand-painted prints in the form of decorative drapery and upholstery.
The boutique is stocked with pieces Djerf Avenue fans know and love, such as its best-selling line of Go Slow pajamas and ready-to-wear staples like the Weekend Blazer. Shoppers will also be treated to a selection of in-store exclusives, including playing cards, reusable water bottles and yellow cab keychains.
Teaming up with local vendors was an integral part of Djerf Avenue’s pop-up strategy, a tradition that the new store is upholding. For opening weekend, Leon’s Bagels and Bluestone Lane returned to serve up strawberry bagels and matcha (a nod to the brand’s popular Summer Berries collection). Such collaborations are expected to be a consistent feature of the flagship.
With brick-and-mortar retail and in-person brand experiences on the upswing, now felt like the perfect time to start building out Djerf Avenue’s physical footprint. What’s more, the label’s typical customer purchases a higher quantity of items in-person as opposed to when shopping virtually.
Photo: Jamie Pearl
“You get so much information from the customer that is incredibly important for growing the business and evolving as a business owner,” Djerf said of operating a standalone boutique. “When people try things on, you can stand in the store and immediately hear their first reaction. That’s something you can’t get when they purchase online.”
The Djerf Avenue flagship is now open at 25 Bond St. in New York City, Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
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