Beard Power: Kim Edvinsson’s Södermalm

Posted on 27 May, 2016

Interview by Tracy Stefanucci

Photography by Jessica Wikström

“If I didn’t have a beard, I’d be a nobody,” jokes 27-year- old Kim Edvinsson, referring to the success of his modeling career in Stockholm, Sweden, which caught on like wildfire after a photographer friend posted a photo of him and his now-legendary beard on Instagram. Kim moved to Stockholm from the southern town of Halmstad, near the border to Denmark, in 2010, but his new home was not what he expected: “Stockholm has different areas that are like different countries in one city—and almost no one living in this city grew up here. You’ve got the south of Stockholm that is very cultured and socially conscious, that does yoga and eats healthy and doesn’t care what other people think. Then you’ve got the north of Stockholm that’s like… rich people,” he says with a grin.

Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is a cluster of islands on the country’s east coast. When Kim says “the south of Stockholm” he is talking about Södermalm—often referred to as simply “Söder”—the island on the southern edge of the city. A formerly working class area now marked by gentrification, it has a reputation for alternative culture and left-leaning values.

Beard Power: Kim Edvinsson's Sodermalm

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Nytorget

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Nytorget is a square with a little park inside and around it is a bunch of streets with cafes, bars and restaurants. In the summer there are no cars in the neighborhood and businesses take their furniture into the street. It becomes a big street party and its as if everyone from Södermalm is there.
Barber: Roy & Son

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I go to the barbershop Roy & Son, connected to the bar Tjoget. We usually book a whole day, like five hours. You get there by 10 in the morning and right away they give you a beer and a whiskey. First you get a facial massage and then you get a cigar. Then they trim your beard, and then you get a facial massageagain—there’s wet towels, hot towels, everything. Guy’s day.
Bar: Tjoget

By Hayo Magazine
Shopping: Götgatan

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Götgatan and Bondegatan are two streets that have a lot of vintage shops. It’s expensive, but stuff is one of a kind. The area also has a lot of small shops run by new clothing companies that have cool stuff no one has seen before, as well as other small businesses run by people from all over the world.
Shopping: Bondegatan

By Hayo Magazine