Ganni’s latest collection of upcycled Levi’s denim is rental only, no buying
Ganni has launched a new collection that comes with a catch – it is not for sale. Customers can only rent items, rather than purchasing them to keep.
The Danish brand has teamed up with iconic American denim brand label Levi’s to create an exclusive rental-only capsule collection, called “Love Letter”, a first for both brands.
The collab features three staple denim pieces – a button-down shirt with a bib collar, 501 jeans and a shirt dress, all made from upcycled vintage Levi’s jeans and repurposed denim.
Shown at Copenhagen fashion week, the SS21 collection is meant to be an “ode to wearability, longevity and heritage of Levi’s” says a Ganni spokesperson.
The collection incorporates the style of the Scandi-brand known for its leopard prints, oversized peter-pan collars, and voluminous sleeves, with the unmistakable look of Levi’s denim.
Normally these items would retail anywhere between £300 to £350, but now customers can only keep them for a short period – between one and three weeks.
The cost will reportedly range from £40 for one week for the jeans to £65 for the dress (the price for the jeans for three weeks is £90).
Ganni’s creative director Ditte Reffstrup told Vogue magazine that the collection was born before the worldwide Covid-19 lockdown began. She said: “We joked about how it was the easiest and lightest collection we had ever made.”
But then the pandemic hit and caused production issues. “It was like having written a 300-page book and then being asked to rewrite the same story in 150,” she added.
Prior to this collection Ganni has road-tested the idea of rental fashion with its Ganni Repeat project, which launched in 2019.
But until now it was only available in Denmark. “Love Letters” will be available in the UK and USA as well.
In Ganni’s annual sustainability report it says: “We don’t identify as a sustainable brand. We recognise the inherent contradiction between the current fashion industry that thrives off newness and consumption, and the concept of sustainability.
“So instead, we’re focused on becoming the most responsible version of ourselves. Committed to making better choices every day across the business to minimise our social and environmental impact. We see this as our moral obligation.”
The brand also says it is “training all our designers and production teams in circular design principles and design strategies for cyclability.”
Fashion rental has often been hailed as the future of the industry – a way for people to wear new fashion but reduce the impact on the environment of mass consumption.
Brands such as Onloan, My Wardrobe HQ, and Hurr are third-party companies that buy up warehouses of clothes and then distribute them to renters.
Or By Rotation, a peer-to-peer service, which facilitates borrowing between owners.
The Independent tested rental fashion for London Fashion Week 2020. See how we got on.
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