RIYADH — Johan Lindeberg, the Swedish creative director behind J.Lindeberg, Blk Dnm, and some of Diesel’s most iconic 1990s campaigns, has permanently relocated to Riyadh. The reason: Jay3lle, a new fashion brand he is building alongside Princess Noura bint Faisal Al Saud, who serves as chief executive officer, and his daughter Blue Lindeberg, who is cofounder.
This week the brand will unveil its first collection with a pop-up in Riyadh Park. The looks blend technical silhouettes with elevated fashion codes: crisp white tracksuits, lightweight layers, sculptural shapes, leather and bomber jackets, graphic headscarves, and a debut pair of sunglasses — pieces designed to move from the golf course to dinner without requiring a change.
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“To connect the new generation beyond borders is something my daughter Blue and I always talked about,” Lindeberg told WWD. “Now we are part of the biggest transformation in the world.”
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Lindeberg, who has built his career on what he calls a “contrarian” instinct — from Diesel’s campaigns, which became one of the most awarded in advertising history, to making J.Lindeberg the first Swedish fashion brand with international ambitions in 1996, and Blk Dnm’s downtown New York community — sees Jay3lle as the synthesis of everything before it.
“People who know the brands I’ve created in the past will definitely recognize my codes,” he said. “In New York and Paris, my name is more associated with leather jackets, jeans, and tailoring through Blk Dnm. Globally, I’m more known for having changed the style of golf with J.Lindeberg. With Jay3lle, we want to combine both worlds.”
It has been, he added, “an interesting challenge to bring together fashion and golf but also to add a modern Saudi energy.”
He has called the venture “the most important project of my life.”
“I truly believe that Riyadh is the new New York City and Saudi is the new center of the world,” he said. “As a creative visionary, you want to be in an environment that has creative guts. Saudi believes in creativity, and every minute is inspiring. Saudi makes me feel more creative than I’ve ever been.”
The campaign was shot in the Saudi desert by Omani photographer Chndy and styled by French-Egyptian stylist Omaima Salem, with Algerian model Hayett fronting the images. The all-Arab creative team was a deliberate choice. “It was important that the campaign really reflected that we’re Saudi, but we’re also global, and we love the Arab world,” Princess Noura told WWD.
“The desert has always inspired me — its freedom, its stillness, its power,” Lindeberg said. “The desert represents space and freedom and it has such a beautiful and grounding energy. Jay3lle was born in Saudi Arabia, and this campaign is about honoring that origin while looking forward.”
The decision to launch with a women’s collection was shaped by Blue Lindeberg and Princess Noura. “Blue and Princess Noura inspire us to initiate our brand community from a woman’s perspective,” Lindeberg said. “To create a progressive women’s brand from here with a dynamic power woman as our CEO is very special.”
The partnership itself seems unusual, but was a natural fit. Princess Noura, who led the creation of Saudi Arabia’s Fashion Commission in 2019, met Lindeberg over coffee in Riyadh. Deeply involved in the development of the kingdom’s fashion industry, she had long resisted launching her own brand — “I’m not a designer,” she said — but Lindeberg asked her to be CEO on the spot. After days of texts back and forth, she agreed.
“Princess Noura and I connected after five minutes, and she inspires me every day with her drive and dynamic energy,” explained Lindeberg. His design language, he added, is evolving through the collaboration. “My design has been inspired by the energy of downtown New York City in combination with the Parisian chic attitude. And Princess Noura and our amazing team inspire me to stepwise add a new modern interpretation of Saudi heritage.”
For Lindeberg, the partnership also solves a career-long challenge. “The biggest challenge in my career has always been to find a complement who can drive and scale the company,” he said. “This is something I had in Renzo Rosso during my time at Diesel in the ’90s, and I never had this person at Blk Dnm or J.Lindeberg.”
Jay3lle’s connection to golf is foundational, but not limiting. “We’re not a sports brand,” Princess Noura stressed. “We’re inspired by sports. I don’t play golf. I can wear all of Jay3lle’s items and go to dinner or travel.”
Lindeberg sees the opportunity to extend what he began when he famously dressed golfer Jesper Parnevik in pink pants. “I have always seen golf as a metaphor for the search process in life, and it’s my meditation,” he said. “We want to connect fashion and golf on a new progressive luxury dimension and to make golf trendy.”
The label, backed by Golf Saudi, blends golf, resort and fashion codes with plans to scale internationally through owned retail, branded real estate, and a resort concept that reimagines the country club for a new generation. The brand will operate seasonlessly through drops, with collaborations and ambassador partnerships in development. The business roadmap is deliberately phased: an immersive pop-up at Riyadh Park this year alongside direct-to-consumer e-commerce, a first flagship in Riyadh by early 2027, and branded real estate — a Jay3lle-designed resort in partnership with Golf Saudi — beginning in 2028, with Asia as a priority expansion market.
Princess Noura sees Jay3lle as a proof point for Saudi Arabia’s ability to produce, not just consume, global luxury. “I don’t think we’ve seen any creative director out there that has made this move and decided to move to Saudi and to build something from here,” she said. Lindeberg’s senior creative team is relocating to Riyadh, with plans to recruit and mentor Saudi designers alongside experienced international creatives.
Asked whether launching from Riyadh changes how the industry perceives him, Lindeberg was direct. “Personally, I don’t care about my own legacy,” he said. “My drive has always been to create a new energy, new dynamics, and to inspire people. I’ve always been ahead of my time and believing in a contrarian direction by following my intuition.”
Of Saudi Arabia, he added: “I feel deeply connected with Saudi and want to live here forever. I’m so inspired to create a brand from here, and I want to make Saudi proud of Jay3lle.”