An Interview with Katja Inga

text Agnes Strand

Five years ago, designer and stylist Katja Hägelmark Johansson started her business, focusing on custom-made clothing. Since then, she has dressed many celebrities, brides and bridesmaids . In the fall of 2024, she pursued one of her other dreams and launched her ready-to-wear brand, KATJA INGA – clothing that is made in Stockholm, from first sketch to last seam.

Agnes Strand: Who are you?
Katja Inga: I’m Katja Hägelmark Johansson, designer and also founder of the Swedish brand KATJA INGA. I make a lot of custom-made pieces, for artists for example, but also wedding dresses and I do some styling under the name Katja Johansson Design. I also run my own brand since fall 2024, KATJA INGA. It’s a ready-to-wear brand where everything is sewn and designed in Stockholm.

AS: Describe your design
KI: I usually describe my design at KATJA INGA as Scandinavian and timeless, but with a twist. I work a lot with draping, for example, and I like to create pieces that can be worn in several different ways, so that they can have a long life in your wardrobe. I love simplicity, less is more, especially when it comes to color, but it shouldn’t be too basic. I work 90% of the time in black and white/cream white.

AS: How did you get to where you are today?
KI: I sewed a lot when I was a teenager. But then a lot of other things happened in life, I lived abroad for a while, then I started studying journalism in Kalmar, and that’s when I finally picked up my interest again and started sewing, day and night really. Thats almost 10 years ago now. I’ve taken a few classes at Tillskärarakademin in Gothenburg, in pattern making, materials science, etc., but at the core, I am self-taught. I started my own company in 2020 and it gave me a reel boost in my carrier when I was working with Idol in 2021. I saw that Sebastian Hammarberg (Stylebyseb) was going to style the Idols and was ooking for an assistant who could sew, so I applied—and that’s how it started. I got the job, and since then, I’ve been working with this. A lot of custommade work, which I love; it’s so fun and creative. But having my own KATJA INGA has been something I’ve been longing for for such a long time.

AS: Biggest challenges of running your own business?
KI: Getting the word out! Right now, all of my designs and garments are made in Stockholm, which I’m incredibly proud of, and I want people to know that, but it’s so easy to get lost in the noise. It would be so wonderful if people actually realized that you can buy clothes that are made in Stockholm.

AS: Where do you see yourself in the future?
KI: My dream is to be able to work 100% with KATJA INGA. Right now, I do everything myself, design, sketches, social media, sewing, the business part etc. My goal is for KATJA INGA to grow, and to have employees, so that I can do what I love the most, the design part. I wish to have a showroom or a small store, with large windows facing the street. That’s what I’m hoping for.