Ganni: Fashion’s Latest B-Corp
Courtesy of GANNI
Written By: Elizabeth York
On September 20th, Copenhagen-based brand Ganni announced their B Corp certification. Founded in 2000, Ganni has been rising in popularity, especially since the 2010s with the takeover of the brand by Nicolaj and Ditte Reffstrup as CEO and creative director. They have done collaborations with brands such as Juicy Couture and New Balance, but the collaboration I have heard the most about is their collaboration with Levi’s.
Emma Chamberlain was the poster girl for the Ganni x Levi’s collection. She can be seen on the Ganni x Levi’s collection page and was front row at their SS23 show for Copenhagen Fashion Week. She even did a video with Vogue, 24 Hours with Emma Chamberlain in Copenhagen, where viewers can see her going for a fitting at the Ganni HQ and see snippets of the show.
Courtesy of hypebae
They are known for their “Scandi 2.0” style, a twist on the minimalistic Scandinavian style. It’s a mix of fun with functionality, the perfect attire for a morning bike commute through Copenhagen. This was even the theme of their recent show, Joyride. Their SS23 show featured lots of bright colors and prints, and of course denim, all while looking super comfortable and practical. All the looks in the show were amazing and quintessentially Ganni, and the set design was perfect for the theme. You can see media from the show on their website.
Courtesy of GANNI
Ganni strives to be responsible; they don't call themselves a sustainable brand because they don't believe that with the nature of fashion it can really be sustainable. They have been issuing yearly Responsibility Reports and working towards completing 44 sustainability goals between 2020-2023. These goals lie across the categories of people, planet, product, and prosperity, and as of their 2021 responsibility report, they have completed 30 of the 44 goals. They have also appointed an external Responsibility Board to keep them accountable, which includes Aude Vergne, the Chief Sustainability Officer of Chloé. Under Vergne, Chloé became the first luxury brand to achieve B-Corp certification, setting a new precedent for the industry. All of Ganni’s work in responsibility has catapulted them to gain their B-Corp certification.
Gaining a B-Corp certification means that a company has met very high standards for social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Companies go through a long process, which includes answering over 300 questions about their practices. They are scaled on a scale up to 200, and companies must reach a score of 80 in order to become B-Corp certified. The median score for an ordinary business is 50.9, and Ganni scored a 90.6, a very high score for a fashion company. Moving forward, Ganni hopes to reach a score of 150. This is very ambitious, but definitely attainable as Patagonia has already reached a score of 151.4. It is great to see fashion brands looking to hold themselves accountable, and hopefully we will be seeing more contemporary brands working towards this certification in the near future.