The year was 2014, Mother and daughter Lena and Johanna Westerdahl's business paths meet again after several years in separate directions. Johanna, trained service economist and salesperson, who recently went through an exhaustion depression, was looking for a new job that could work for her restart in life. Lena who previously secretly started seveneast and gained such momentum that she either had to shut down because she didn't have time or sell her beloved multi-brand store that she ran for 40 years. When they both realized that the match was perfect, they decided to start a new AB and there came the real kick off for 7EAST. Yes, the story begins much earlier than that. Both Lena and Johanna have throughout their lives had a great interest in fashion, clothes and accessories. When Lena started her shop in the 80s, she sewed a lot of clothes herself and made jewelry and accessories for customers to order. Johanna, who grew up among the clothes in the store, has always loved clothes, and followed every single trend, even the strangest ones. When she was 10 years old, she ran a shop on the farm she grew up on, where, like her mother, she designed and sold jewelry. This was really where the journey began.

When Lena felt a demand for accessories in the store, without finding any brand with the concept she wanted, it was clear. She was going to start an accessory brand with high quality, unique design jewelry. Shawls with a large variety in both color, quality and size. Ties, hand-stitched with a fantastic feel and men's jewelery like no other on the market. When she tested her way for a few years, both to find the right production and materials, but also to test the sales opportunities in the store, she took the help of a sales agent and suddenly seveneast had over 100 retailers in Sweden, this is where Lena and Johanna started working together and restarted the company under a new management, on equal terms.

"The best thing about being able to work every day together with your mother is being able to share everything with someone who is so close to you, being able to be brutally honest, being able to encourage each other in a genuine way, being able to experience adversity together, that's the best thing about running 7EAST" - Johanna Westerdahl.

Today, we find much of the inspiration for our collections around the world, but also in Sweden, all around us in nature, in town, together. The design process takes place in Halmstad with the sea and nature close by. This is also where the head office, the heart of the brand, is located.