When Nicolaj and Ditte Reffstrup took over at Ganni in 2009, the team consisted of five locals working from a small apartment. Back then, said Ditte on a walk-through, “everything was so new; in a way you’re so naive and that makes you very brave because you don’t know how crazy a world this is.”
Now an anchor of Copenhagen Fashion Week, the brand is stepping away from the madness this season. They’ve done a collection but skipped a show in favor of supporting up-and-coming Danish designers through an exhibition and dinner. (Read about it here.)
Having taken that decision, Reffstrup experienced an emotion that became the title of the fall collection: Copenhagen nostalgia. In keeping with the theme, the lookbook was shot against red-and-white backgrounds, a reference to the colors of the Danish flag. Though she couldn’thave known it then, the release of these images roughly coincides with the succession of King Frederik X to the throne, and a swelling of national pride.
Like the company itself, the Ganni Girl is maturing. This fall 2024 collection finds her at an in-between stage, drawn to pinafore dresses and miniskirts with ruffled hems, argyles and platform loafers—and tailoring. Though Reffstrup considers the brand’s fitted jacket with curved sleeves a classic by now, the focus on suiting and outerwear is a deliberate engagement with sartorialism. A trench coat has nice details like a double collar and a raised Ganni logo at center back. Suiting and outerwear feature squared cuffs and look like they mean business.
No wallflower, the Ganni girl likes to party. Going-out options include sparkling looks and a fun beaded fringe skirt with the brand’s butterfly logo. Her Copenhagen cool comes through most clearly in denim. A shaped jacket is made in a wide ribbed material developed in-house, and creases are intriguingly preserved in a laminated set. There are miniskirts to wear over jeans and with any number of knits. Most hyggeligt of all is a fluffy black-and-white coat made using Biofluff, one of Ganni’s Fabrics of the Future.