Sweden

The leather is named for Sweden, in French.

English suede comes from French gants de Suède, “gloves of Sweden.” The napped leather was associated with Swedish gloves, then the country name became the finish.

Swedes call it classic massage; the strokes may be Dutch, not Swedish.

The technique is usually credited to Pehr Henrik Ling and his Swedish gymnastics, but the French names for its strokes came through the Dutch practitioner Johann Georg Mezger. In Sweden the same treatment is simply classic massage, and the national label is largely an export product.

Sweden made buying sex a crime while leaving selling it legal, and the arrangement now travels under the country's name.

The Sex Purchase Act took effect in 1999, making Sweden the first country to punish only the buyer. Norway and Iceland followed, which is why the approach is also called the Nordic model, and France, Ireland, and Canada have since adopted versions of it. It remains contested, with sex worker organizations arguing that it pushes the trade into more dangerous conditions.