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fashion
Ganni Brings Scandi 2.0 to the New LA Store

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Ditte Reffstrup, Nicolaj Reffstrup, and Lykki Li ![Ditte Reffstrup, Nicolaj Reffstrup, and Lykki Li](https://assets-global.website-files.com/62ee0bbe0c783a903ecc0ddb/6472bad01592c9cf97862fb0_image-asset.jpeg) Ditte Reffstrup, Nicolaj Reffstrup, and Lykki Li This summer must have been completely ruled by the ever present neon green seer sucker plaid dress that was at every relevant party I went to. There was an overwhelming feeling of seeing more than one #GanniGirl at a party, it signified a shifted experience of sisterhood. Who wouldn’t love and feel compelled into a cult like community of cool girls with the same aesthetic ethos, fun, sustainable and instantly Gram-able. Their latest store opened on Melrose placed by the vicinity of other brands like Acne Studios, Maxfield, and right next to Palace Skate (the ultimate #gannigirl’s #skaterboy). The store boasts a colorful and smart design which features dressing rooms draped with wallpaper using photos by Ana Kras and sustainable compressed plastic fixtures that position the label at the forefront of the new Scandinavian movement, Scandi 2.0. The remarkable stands for the mannequins look similar to melted gum or slime is actually the results of repurposed plastic manufacturing waste. Scattered perfectly throughout the flagship are vintage restored furniture pieces including Finnish Architect Alvar Aalto’s stools. Out are asexual minimalism and Mid Sommar bohemianism and in are the city slicker girls who go dancing, care about eco activism, are always fun and look too cool while doing it. In honor of the new stores opening we got a chance to speak to Ganni’s creative director Ditte Reffstrup and founder Nicolaj Reffstrup. #gannigirls ![#gannigirls](https://assets-global.website-files.com/62ee0bbe0c783a903ecc0ddb/6472bad01592c9cf97862f9e_image-asset.jpeg) #gannigirls **Can you explain to me the interior design?** Nicolaj Reffstrup: This is part of kind of sustainability effort, so they did the mannequin bases and some of the displays like the white one there it’s actually excess plastic from furniture production.  **Excess plastic from furniture production?** NR: Ya, so it’s literally the kind of plastic that overflows from the mold when you (apply) pressure. So we get to kind of then shape and fit them for our needs, but we don’t know how they come out necessarily. We get the plastic we get  **I love that concept though. It’s very now. It’s so post-environmental.** NR: Ya and letting your sustainability effort influence the design process rather than the other way around. So we have more initiatives like that , we try to kind of use vintage furniture also our outdoor chairs or stools. The displays I made are from a company called, “Smile Plastics.” recycled plastic bottles or different kinds of plastics. We also build shelving with them. Bec Adams and Mia Carucci ![Bec Adams and Mia Carucci](https://assets-global.website-files.com/62ee0bbe0c783a903ecc0ddb/6472bad11592c9cf97862fd0_image-asset.jpeg) Bec Adams and Mia Carucci **That’s beautiful. In general, why did you guys choose LA as your next destination? You guys just opened your other store.** NR: We always wanted to come to LA. Everybody loves LA. Taking one step back we’ve seen that there’s a lot of interest for the brand in the US so we opened in New York last week and then LA this week. It’s a bit more of a coincidence that they’re this close to each other. You know we go looking for locations, you negotiate the lease contract blah blah blah. It just takes a long time and then it just happened to be at the same time. We think that the LA customer would appreciate what we’re doing and that it’s colorful, easy to wear, and at the same time statement-y. **It’s a subtle statement piece. I think that’s really interesting because I first discovered your brand over the summer from my friends who bought the iconic neon. It was something that felt so like perfectly thrown in her wardrobe but it was such like a stunning look as well which I think is a very kind of quintessential LA concept is statement casual; laid back statement.** Ditte Reffstrup: Maybe there’s a thing where it’s similar actually. It’s also how we dress in Denmark. It shouldn’t be forced it should feel natural, easy to wear, but still have some kind of statement. CL2\_0789.jpg ![CL2_0789.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56c346b607eaa09d9189a870/1572301619626-C5ORN7J52DX43VOI9UD9/CL2_0789.jpg) **Are you guys launching anything specifically special for the LA location?** DR: Ya, this small collection with these pieces, leather pieces, is actually made out of deadstock that we had from previous collections so we this because it was small and we did this patchwork work with that and this is the same like this is old stock that we did this patchwork thing and then we did these t-shirts, now I can’t remember what you call it (latitude and longitude). **You guys are kind of like leading the voice of this new kind of like social media generation of fashion wear. How do you feel like kind of like taking that on? What do you feel about your clothing is so specially geared towards that dynamic?**  NR: We kind of grew up with Instagram in particular. Lots of our friends were kind of doing blogs back then and then kind of slowly ventured into Instagramming and it got turned into a bigger thing like girls like [Pernille Teisbaek](https://www.instagram.com/pernilleteisbaek/?hl=en). She’s a Scandinavian influencer. [Veronika Heilbrunner](https://www.instagram.com/veronikaheilbrunner/?hl=en) who’s a Berlin based Instagrammer, [Camille Charriere](https://www.instagram.com/camillecharriere/?hl=en) from London. Girls like that were kind of like involved along with us and they became friends, so it was always a natural thing for us, however, never a deliberate effort. We never had like, and still even today we don’t have a social media manager, it’s kind of like a team effort what we put out there. CL2\_8460.jpg ![CL2_8460.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56c346b607eaa09d9189a870/1572301664474-0G3RJTDTRO9X1JK1EZUB/CL2_8460.jpg) **Ditte**: I think it happened very organically. It felt like, to be honest, maybe they didn’t really knew where it was taking them like the Instagram whole thing. They were just trying to do whatever that worked out and a little bit the same for us maybe. I mean we didn’t know that it was going to be like such a big thing and such an important part of our business. **Back to the whole concept of effortless statements that you guys make through wearing your clothes, which I think is very much what people are thriving for. You can buy certain items that are very “social media-ed” but it ends up being effortless. I feel like there’s something about the clothes that you can wear time on and endlessly, which is great.**  DR: Yeah, for me it’s difficult to explain because it’s a natural thing. It’s the way I’ve always been dressing. Ever since I was a kid, my mom would put out clothes for me to wear the day before and I would wake up and I wouldn’t feel like that. I would dress like how I feel and it would be a natural thing for me to mix vintage stuff when I was a small kid. My mom would ask, “why can’t you dress like the other girls?” I was a buyer for many years and when you travel, people think the Scandanavian style is minimal and cool, very androginous or else they would think it’s very bohemian and romantic. I would think, “oh my god, I can’t recognize myself, that’s not true.” There’s so much of this “Scandy 2.0.”  Ritchie Shazam and Juliette Labelle ![Ritchie Shazam and Juliette Labelle](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56c346b607eaa09d9189a870/1572301811826-4KUN68TPBA6800Z6Z96Q/CL2_8944.jpg) Ritchie Shazam and Juliette Labelle So, I think we just do what feels right. We have an amazing team and we are always dressing up and fitting it on ourselves so it’s easy to wear. Being in retail since I was 14, I know women have issues with their body and I loved dressing up people. I would always dress up my mom and my sisters or if people are going to a wedding. I love it, it’s just what I do. That’s why I love fashion. I want people to feel good about themselves. I get super high when I was in retail and I could help people out, saying “we’re going to make you fabulous, I’m going to make you feel good and make you feel like it’s you that’s walking with the clothes and not the other way around.” It’s so important that you see the person behind the clothes and not the other way around and I love that. It’s more like a state of mind.  **It’s like making them feel good makes you feel good. So I heard Helena Christensen gave you guys the #GanniGirls?** NR: Yes she was hanging out with Kate Bosworth, they were tweeting something cute about us and then hashtagging it as #GanniGirl and posted a photo of both of them **Thats what so special is when there is such an organic obsession with a clothing brand you actually lend your identity to it** NR: Yes we kind of took it over. We owe them a beer.