Ditte and Nicolaj Reffstrup, the wife-and-husband team behind the Danish womenswear line, Ganni, didn’t consciously set out to disrupt the fashion market, but they did.
The couple stepped into the former cashmere brand in 2009, installing Ditte as creative director and Nicolaj as chief executive, with the intention of showing the world another side to Scandinavian fashion; that it wasn’t all dreamy boho chic or the clean lines and androgyny of, say, Cos. A teenage soccer player, Ditte had grown up experimenting with fashion, mixing charity shop finds with bright colour and sportswear. She knew other women who dressed like her, but she wasn’t seeing their style in contemporary Danish fashion labels. “I thought: there isn’t a Danish brand presenting the cool girl from Copenhagen.”
Thanks to Ganni, Cool Girl From Copenhagen is now a global phenomenon. You’ll find it under the hashtag #gannigirls on Instagram, where this summer it’s all about a poison green seersucker check dress, or Alexa Chung in the leopard print bucket hat. In previous seasons it has been a statement “Cherry Bomb” T-shirt or a chunky hiking boot, or the printed midi wrap dresses that have become its signature.