With a combined experience of 230 years, global men’s luxury shirt brand Eton from Sweden, and knitwear specialist Dale of Norway, recently joined forces to design and create a unique knitted sweater jacket, known as ‘swacket’, that combines the best of both brands.

Designed in Sweden and Norway and knitted locally in Norway using the first lamb’s wool from free-range Dalasau sheep that roam the slopes of the mountainous Vestland region, the sweater jacket is said to merge the urbane elegance of a shirtmaker with the rustic charm of heritage sportswear, and a mutual obsession for quality into Nordic Luxury.

Celebrating Dale’s expertise, the wool used for this design was sheared and knitted locally using machines to limit waste fabrics, while reducing the amount of transportation. Light but warming, the wool and its complex mono-coloured fishbone stitch pattern will only grow softer and more lustrous with wear, in line with both brands’ dedication to design made to last.

Sebastian Dollinger, Creative Director for Eton, collaborated with Dale Creative Director Håkon Dyngeland Solem, to design this modern yet timeless all-season, indoor-outdoor layering piece along clean, Scandinavian lines.

“I’m beyond pleased with the result of our collaboration. I feel like we have found an Eton in Norway with Dale — but instead of shirts in the finest quality possible, they excel and are best-in-class when it comes to knitwear. We have so much in common. Together we have created a design that is relevant anywhere, all year, as an outdoor jacket or a layering piece: a classic, timeless garment that appeals to many different people. That is the definition of successful design to me,” says Sebastian Dollinger, Creative Director Eton.

Global shirt specialist Eton was founded in Sweden in 1928 and is known for its dedication to craftsmanship, and range of refined dress and casual shirts, including exclusive overshirts, and its extensive menswear accessories range. With customer touchpoints in over 50 countries, including some of the world’s most exclusive department stores, and a near global availability online, the brand has grown into an international presence in its near centennial existence.

Dale of Norway, founded in 1879, is a maker and reinventor of Norway’s heritage sportswear, the traditional ‘lusekofte’, and an official supplier of unique knitwear for the Norwegian Winter Olympic and Ski Team since 1956. The brand can be found in most exclusive winter resorts, including Val d’Isère, Cortina, Squaw Valley.

“I trained in Italy, and I have worked in the fashion world for a long time — to me, Eton has always stood out as a leading shirt brand,” says Håkon Dyngeland Solem, Creative Director Dale of Norway. “And Sebastian Dollinger and I have a great connection: we’re on the same planet. It was natural for both of us create something that took our brands in a new direction, while holding on to our traditions and origins. A statement piece. We created something very Scandinavian together: Nature is so important to us here, and I think you can see that in the ruggedness of the wool— but in combination with clean, classic, elegant lines — this is Nordic luxury.”

The Nordic Luxury sweater jacket was released in Eton Brand stores, at Eton and Dale online flagship stores www.etonshirts.com and www.daleofnorway.com and through select wholesale partners in November — in time for Christmas and, in the Scandinavian countries, Father’s Day.