Ganni choosing a presentation over a catwalk show for spring was not only unexpected; it was arguably an even more rebellious move than jumping from the Copenhagen calendar—where the brand became known for its blow-out shows—to the Paris one. “I think every time people do something that’s a little bit unexpected, it’s just interesting,” said creative director Ditte Reffstrup. Choosing this way of showing, she explained, was “a big change, and we’re not saying that we are not going to go back to [the runway], but it’s our third time in Paris and everything is on such a fast track. I really wanted to try to take this collection a little bit more slow. I really wanted people to be able to see the actual product and see the craft qualities and the details.”
Visitors to the exhibition at the Bastille Design Center, an industrial building dating to the 19th century, were greeted by dressed wooden mannequins standing among flowers. Behind them played a dreamy movie meant to evoke a sense of summers past, captured in blurred images as if seen from a moving vehicle—“fragments of a dream,” as the designer put it. At the top of the stairs was a wall of bags and on the second floor the collection was presented, again on wooden mannequins, styled less dramatically. Even so, the pieces defied expectation.
Reffstrup carried on with the warped floral prints introduced last season, and added a leopard one: she said they capture the feeling of time passing, and the way memory alters things. This season’s double-belted trench had an extravagant pannier-like volume; its belled shape was that of a tulip, in keeping with Reffstrup’s desire to explore “the flower universe.” Dense appliqués of flowers on denim, and crochet pieces with dimensional blooms looked heavy; the less literally flower-like pieces were more sophisticated and had less of a loving hands at home feeling. “Posy,” Ganni’s take on a gardening bag, looked poised to be a hit. A khaki dress in recycled patent was smocked in such a way that the usual puckers took the form of flowers. A white printed dress was given a crinkle treatment so it resembled peeling wallpaper, a sort of manifestation of those dream fragments the designer had mentioned. “I’m always a very nostalgic person, but especially when the world is a little bit rocky or noisy, I’m always longing to go back. So the whole journey to this collection has really been to dive into the childhood memories,” said Reffstrup, who traces the birth of her creativity to the free summer days she happily passed in a seaside town in Jutland.
Clogs were the most typical Scandi element. There were few monochrome looks; these included a drop-waisted gray dress, and its sibling, an off the shoulder buttoned top, lined in a print fabric with jeans. The Nordic region is known for layering, but what was on show was of a different kind entirely, with bandeau tops worn over everything from a red satin dress to a crinkled organza jacket. Most looks featured trailing scarves that fell from shoulder straps, or otherwise embraced the body. “I think there have been so many seasons now where it has all been so muted and simple, and I have this need of exploring a more feminine side,” said Reffstrup, adding “this is for sure not dressing up for a man, this is really dressing up for you.”
There was another dress-up aspect to this collection, too: That of standing in front of a mirror, often in borrowed clothes, and knotting and belting them not only to adjust the fit but as a way to arrive at one’s personal style. There was a physicality to many of the pieces, which were pulled and tied, that really was best appreciated up close and personal.
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