In one of fashion’s more unlikely collaborations, chic Scandi brand Ganni has teamed up with west coast Noughties icon Juicy Couture.
The 13-part capsule collection, which launches today (March 30), comes drenched in LA girl glamour.
It boasts all-new velour tracksuits: brown with ‘GJ’ interlocking logos and love hearts; black with Ganni and Juicy spelled out in Y2K style diamantes; and in purple, complete with a GJ heart zipper. It also counts similarly logo splashed t-shirts, sweatshirts, a ruched long sleeve dress and some rhinestone-heavy baseball caps.
At first glance the garments look typically Juicy Couture, but the Ganni effect runs throughout the fabrication. In keeping with the Copenhagen brand’s environmental ethos (it states it is “committed to having 100% responsible styles in the future”), the velour is Juicy’s most responsibly produced to date, using a mix of certified organic and pre-consumer recycled cotton and recycled polyester.
“When Juicy tracksuits became an icon in the early years of 2000, I was in my twenties working in retail in Copenhagen,” says Ditte Reffstrup, who took over as creative director at Ganni in 2009, when it was a sleepy Danish cashmere company. “I remember being obsessed with the look. The rhinestone embellishments, the colours, it was so strong.”
It is certainly a departure in style. Why does Reffstrup feel the brand better known for its sleek Scandi tailoring, big collars and bright colour summer dresses was in need of a throwback new look? “I think there’s an unexpectedness in the juxtaposition of the two brands that makes it work and feels fun and fresh,” Reffstrup says. “Juicy is the epitome of west coast fabulousness and Ganni signifies the Scandi 2.0 way of dressing, full of contrasts and personality. For me, if my heart is in it, we just go for it.”
The Y2K aesthetic is no better encapsulated than by Paris Hilton, fully clad in hot pink Juicy velour (the heiress and reality TV star has said the tracksuits are her “uniform” for “anything that doesn’t involve a red carpet”). And, as the Nineties and Noughties trend continues to boom among Gen Z shoppers, Ganni’s leap into nostalgia may prove to be sound business acumen.
“I think both Ganni and Juicy Couture present a colourful, bold and inclusive universe,” Reffstrup says. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
