Ganni - AW23

Ganni's creative director Ditte Reffstrup isn’t typically one for nostalgia, but for AW23, she made an exception. “I’m not one to dwell on past projects, I don’t live in the past,” she says. “But this season looking back felt right.” It’s been 14 years since Ganni began as a “tiny team with big dreams”, and in that time it has become one of Scandinavia’s most influential and successful brands. Indeed, Ganni’s girls are well and truly global.

But this is hardly a rewind of Ganni’s greatest hits. Quite the opposite; it feels more like a new beginning, one aptly symbolised by the reveal of the brand’s brand new spanking logo: a butterfly. “Butterflies are known to symbolise transformation, change, and positivity,” Reffstrup says. Set at the extraordinary Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst, the collection, as she puts it, “feels a little more grown up, a little more functional, maybe a bit more mature”. The set design is made in collaboration with renowned artist Esben Weile Kjær (also a dear friend of Reffstrup), whose massive butterfly sculpture – deranged visage inclusive – greets guests as they arrive. “We met up last year and he was telling me about his exhibition at Arken Museum of Modern Art titled ‘Butterfly!’ And it felt like serendipity,” says Reffstrup.

So what does a more mature Ganni girl (or Ganni woman, perhaps) look like? “Ganni will never be a grey turtleneck,” Reffstrup prefaces. Still, the sleek suiting — nipped at the waist — are a pointed departure from the pouf-sleeved prairie frocks of seasons past. On the party front, a vibrant red maxi sequin dress of deconstructed panels that hugs the body just so indicates a woman attending a gala rather than a music festival.

Ultimately, it’s a reflection of where Reffstrup is today. “I think the mood reflects where I am right now,” she says. “Feeling more balanced and at ease with my sense of style.” Confetti cannon finale inclusive.