How People Will Dress After Quarantine, According To Ganni

Danish fashion darling Ganni is known for its quirky prints, playful silhouettes, and vibrant hues. Its latest collection channels all of the above through the lens of the most universal emotion.

“Our FW21 collection is all about love,” creative director Ditte Reffstrup tells Bustle. “Our love for life, music, and all the things we took for granted — especially our love for music.”

To coincide with the FW21 release on Thursday, Feb. 4, the brand orchestrated Ganni Love Forever Live, which it describes as “an upbeat digital music experience championing rising global talent.” In collaboration with three women artists Zsela, Coco O., and Deb Never, Ganni recorded a combination of covers and original tracks by the singers to create a musical experience at a recording studio in Copenhagen. It serves as a backdrop for the brand’s Fall 2021 collection.

“Music is my biggest source of inspiration,” Reffstrup says. “It has been since I was a teenager growing up in a small fishermen’s village, where my only window out into the world was MTV. Now more than ever, it puts you in a great mood. It can also give you comfort, which is important right now.”

The recording sessions took place in early February, and anyone can tune in and follow along on Ganni’s microsite, loveforever.ganni.

“I miss the dance floor and the energy music gives me,” Reffstrup says. “I wanted to spread positivity and emotion with our community, hopefully making people feel something.”

Known for implementing sustainable practices, last year the brand decided to cut down its overall collections size by 40 percent, according to Reffstrup.

“[We] have created more frequent product drops that better reflect the season we are in, rather than four main collections a year,” she says. “Once a piece is sold out, that’s it. For us, it’s a key priority to keep increasing the amount of responsible fabrics each collection, so that eventually we get 100% responsible fabrics. [For] FW21, 80% of the collection is made from recycled or organic materials.”

The pandemic has certainly made Reffstrup and her husband (and co-creative director) Nicolaj reassess their approach as a brand, but also as an industry on the whole. They’ve created an immersive virtual showroom for buyers who can’t travel, and their store teams are conducting live shopping experiences — you can book virtual appointments with them to see what’s in store and shop Ganni from your sofa.

“Everything is closer to the community and much more personal,” Reffstrup says. “People care a lot more now about responsibility and asking questions around how brands are doing things.”

Reffstrup says joy and reconnection will undoubtedly be at the heart of the future of fashion, and will inform how people will dress post-pandemic.

“Once the world reopens again, there will be a summer of love,” she says. “Everyone will want to be out with the friends they’ve missed so much and dressing in pieces that are a little more fun. I think people are going to go all out. I know when the world opens up and I have a reason to dress up again, I am going to be dressing up and looking my best.”