Minutes after the Fall 2019 Ganni show wrapped, Ditte Reffstrup was backstage in happy, jittery tears. Her husband, Nicolaj Reffstrup, handed her a well-deserved Long Island iced tea to calm her nerves. She was anxious about whether or not she did justice to the pictures of photojournalist Ami Vitale, which in part inspired the collection and were showcased on giant screens that lined the venue. There were images of the desert, wild animals, children playing in fields, and cityscapes, all across the world.
Reffstrup and her husband, who up until a few months ago was CEO of the brand, have transformed this once unknown-to-the-rest-of-the-world Danish label into a multimillion-dollar global business. With every Fashion Week that comes and goes, Ganni becomes more visible outside of Copenhagen. Even with its mass market appeal and its perfectly positioned price point, Reffstrup has managed to maintain that sense of a personal, thoughtful touch in her designs.
For the last few seasons, the Reffstrups have been moving away from what they call the “Copenhagen girls on bikes wearing floral dresses” look, which is what everyone on the outside tends to assume Ganni is about. Reffstrup wants to change that notion and make her cult following and the world at large understand that the Ganni girl is every girl. How fitting then, that the show’s theme was about “Life on Earth.” (The official title for the show was taken from the famous David Attenborough wildlife show on the BBC.)
The clothes definitely played into the idea of a nomadic wanderer, but one with a cool, chic sensibility. The prints were more abstract this season, and the outerwear, especially a long striped puffer and sharp trenchcoat, more sophisticated. This season was less playful (in a good way) and more buttoned-up, like a wardrobe for a Ganni woman instead of a Ganni girl.
Reffstrup and her team currently have more than 25 sustainable practices and projects in the works. They’ve been mapping their carbon footprint since 2016 and are offsetting their CO2 emissions with carbon credits. For the Fall collection, they’ve partnered with Swedish Stockings to make all of their tights, leggings, and socks from recycled materials. In the end, Ganni has a lot of love to share and it really is representative of Copenhagen, but its creative and entrepreneurial team has enough heart and chutzpah to span the globe.
