Ganni Presents Its New Fall/Winter 2023 Collection: BUTTERFLY!

“Usually I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on past projects. I am constantly on to the next thing. But lately, I’ve been reflecting a little on our GANNI journey. In the early years, we were fortunate enough to have a small, dedicated group of GANNI girls cheering us on. That means the world to me, and always will. I was really shy back then, sometimes feeling almost like an outsider because I didn’t come from a natural fashion network. We had all these ideas about how we wanted GANNI to be, but didn’t always have the people and structure to make it happen. It sounds kind of cliché, but now I feel like pinching myself, looking around the office, at all the incredible people on our team. Being around them every day gives me so much energy. It’s real.

So a butterfly felt like the perfect analogy when we were thinking about a new logo. Butterflies symbolise transformation, change, and positivity. One of the first things we put the logo on is our new bag, the GANNI Bou Bag, which is made in Ohoskin, a luxury leather alternative made from cacti and oranges. The GANNI Bou Bag is really what GANNI is all about – a super versatile bag to follow you everywhere you go.

To me, the collection feels a little more grown up, a little more functional. GANNI will never be a grey turtleneck. But I was really up for doing more suiting this season, honing a sleek and strong but flattering look. I think the mood reflects where I am right now, feeling more balanced and at ease with my sense of style.” – Ditte Reffstrup, Creative Director, GANNI

For Fall/Winter 2023, Ditte Reffstrup imagined the GANNI girl grown up, more polished, yet still playful. That’s illustrated in the collection’s emphasis on suiting, tailoring, and pieces that already feel like wardrobe staples. A series of three-piece suits in grey wool are designed to be sharp yet feminine, with the typically GANNI detailing of frills along the seams down the leg–reminding Ditte of the frills on jellyfish. The suits’ shiny buttons feature GANNI’s new butterfly logo, which appears elsewhere, bejewelled on pointy satin evening shoes. A symbol of new energy for the brand.

For Ditte, butterflies take her right back to being a teenager in the 90s living in a tiny fishermen’s town in northern Denmark, watching MTV, obsessed with Brit Pop. The butterfly symbol is as 90s as belly button piercings. “When I was 22 I got a tattoo of a butterfly on my wrist in white ink. It’s super tacky, but I still love it!”.

Dresses for fall have a timeless sophistication. A lace trim creates a deconstructed look contrasted with feminine silk cream on one. A velvet dress in luscious-rich avocado green with ruched details feels easy and elevated. Coats and blazers come boxy and boyishly elegant; a heavy long coat with oversize lapels in herringbone tweed is particularly elegant.

Collaborations are everything to Ditte. This season, GANNI teams up again with the Icelandic outerwear brand 66°North. There’s a new collaboration with Veneda Carter, the Danish-born LA-based stylist and creative consultant, who has created a line of jewellery featuring the new brand logo. Like many of GANNI’s collaborations it began with a friendship. “I’ve known Veneda for the longest time,” Ditte explains. “She modelled for us at one of our first shows and closed our show last season. Her style is so GANNI. I love her work.”

Finally, Ditte joins forces with longtime friend, the artist Esben Weile Kjær, on the set design of the show, to be held at the Arken Museum of Modern Art. A Copenhagen hidden gem, 30 minutes out of the city. Arken was built in the 1990s to look like a giant ship. The show takes place a few days before the opening of Esben’s first major exhibition at Arken.

“I met Esben years ago in a bar,” Ditte recalls. “He used to DJ at the parties we did in our home after our shows in the early days of GANNI. I’m super proud to see his success now. When we bumped into each other last year, he was telling me about the Arken show, and that his exhibition would be titled BUTTERFLY!. There is a serendipity to that.”