Brand Focus: For Scandinavian Understatement and Cool, Try CHIMI

3 days ago
2 min read

Updated: 20 hours ago

Aug. 17, 2026 | By Bruce R. Feldman

Pay attention, class. If you don't know CHIMI, you should. It’s the leading fashion forward eyewear brand in Sweden.

Founded in 2016 by childhood friends Charlie Lindström and Daniel Djurdjevic, CHIMI began with a deceptively simple question: what makes a pair of sunglasses so good that you want to wear essentially the same shape for years?

Lindström had broken a favorite pair and, even as his personal style evolved, found himself searching for the same silhouette. That became the starting point for a brand built around classic shapes stripped down, sharpened up and made distinctly contemporary.

The result is eyewear that feels unmistakably Scandinavian without lapsing into minimalist cliché. Frames are architectural but wearable, colors sophisticated, branding restrained and proportions just unusual enough to get noticed.

Many of the brand's classic collections are handcrafted from premium Italian acetate, giving CHIMI a reassuring solidity. And then there is the hip factor.

The glasses look expensive, photograph beautifully and carry the insider appeal of something discovered rather than something relentlessly advertised. Beyoncé, Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner have all been spotted in the brand, yet CHIMI has largely avoided building its identity around celebrity endorsement.

Instead, it has expanded through smart cultural collaborations, experimental “Labs” projects and increasingly ambitious retail. Its Stockholm flagship opened in 2020; today CHIMI has stores or brand spaces in Stockholm, Paris, Oslo, Cape Town and in Soho i New York City.

A decade after its founding, CHIMI no longer feels like a small startup. It feels like one of those emerging European brands caught at peaking the right moment: established enough to trust, still uncommon enough to feel cool.

For anyone who prefers minimalist, but chic eyewear with a little attitude, CHIMI is very much worth knowing.