Ganni Repeat

Ganni Repeat / Source: Ganni

CirculoseEuropeInfinnaTextiles

4 MINUTE READ

Sophie Benson

WHAT WE SAY:

There is no one silver bullet that will magically make fashion ‘sustainable.’ Which is why we have a lot of time for the multi-pronged approach of Ganni Repeat, taking in rental, resale, recycling and repair. However, it is fighting against the prevailing currents – an astonishing 150 billion garments are produced each year and people now keep clothes less than half as long as they did in 2000.

The harsh truth is that Ganni is targeting for 5% of its revenue to come from responsible business models by 2025 - just 5%. And this is a brand that is seen as a sustainability pioneer (and it is). Pessimists might use this to show how far we are from a circular fashion system, but ambitious designers will use it as inspiration, to show the impact that the right design could have.

KEY FACTS:

Initially launched as a brand-led rental platform in 2019, the Copenhagen-based fashion brand expanded its Repeat programme in April 2022 to include resale, recycling, repair and secondhand shopping.
Customers can trade in clothes in person in Ganni’s Copenhagen store, rent via the brand’s website, resell past purchases through the brand’s website, shop for second-hand items through its peer-to-peer marketplace and in-store, as well as accessing free on-demand tailoring and repairs.
In 2021, Ganni spent 0.57% of its annual revenue on ‘responsibility’ and the brand aims to generate at least 5% of its sales from responsible business models by 2025.

The Ganni Repeat platform / Source: Ganni

A selection of Ganni materials / Source: Ganni

DIVE DEEPER:

The global second hand apparel market is forecast to grow three times faster than the overall market, which is a welcome shift given that it has been claimed that shopping second hand can save up to 90% of the environmental cost of purchasing a new item (however, both of those data-points come from resale companies, so should be viewed with some caution).
Ganni’s multi-faceted approach to circularity attempts to tap into this trend and tackles a number of issues including throwaway purchases, waste, and financial barriers.
For resale, customers can use a ‘Smart Button’ on their Ganni account to resell validated previous purchases across a network of third party secondhand marketplaces. Alternatively, shoppers can resell items through a dedicated, Ganni-branded peer-to-peer site.
Both services are facilitated by resale-as-a-service provider Reflaunt, and allow users to receive a bank transfer or a store credit at an additional 20%.
Customers can rent pieces for one, two, or three weeks via the Ganni website or via UK rental partners Hurr and Rotaro. A one-week rental for a dress with a retail price of DKK 1,999 (approximately USD 280) is DKK 299 (approximately USD 40), providing an accessible price point for those who cannot afford the full price of a new garment.
On-demand tailoring and repairs are offered for free through a partnership with repair startup Sojo. Currently only available in central areas of London, the programme is set to expand throughout the UK.
Ganni previously partnered with I:CO for clothing and textile waste collection, however it reported in its 2021 Responsibility Report that it was unable to find another partner in 2021 due to being a “small entity.” It is currently storing returned items until a new solution is found.
The brand is also undertaking carbon insetting measures (where a brand invests in reducing emissions within its own operations, rather than just offsetting them via external projects), with a target of a 50% absolute reduction in CO2 emissions by 2027.
Other notable initiatives include its ‘Fabrics of the Future’ initiative, which while sadly not completely plastic-free (Mylo and Vegea both contain plastic additives), does include Circulose and Infinna, two regenerated, plastic-free fibres well worth watching.

"Our mission is to reduce waste and help close the loop in the fashion industry. We won’t pretend fashion is sustainable...but we believe that together, we can help close the loop."

Ganni

Key Design Considerations:

You cannot go it alone

Ganni Repeat taps into a host of partners - Reflaunt, Sojo, Hurr and others - showing the need to tap into external expertise when searching for solutions. Indeed, Ganni’s struggle to find a recycling partner highlights this further.

What are the alternatives to recycling?

Forward-thinking designers will explore concepts, such as modularity, disassembly and redesign to keep materials and garments in the loop without the need for them to be recycled as they are today.

Communication and transparency are key

Ganni’s sustainability efforts feel genuine because it is open about where it has seen progress and crucially where it has not. Brands that constantly shout about their glossy new initiatives without ever reporting their results risk being exposed for greenwashing.

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Ganni Repeat

WHAT WE SAY:

KEY FACTS:

DIVE DEEPER:

Ganni’s multi-faceted approach to circularity attempts to tap into this trend and tackles a number of issues including throwaway purchases, waste, and financial barriers.

For resale, customers can use a ‘Smart Button’ on their Ganni account to resell validated previous purchases across a network of third party secondhand marketplaces. Alternatively, shoppers can resell items through a dedicated, Ganni-branded peer-to-peer site.

Both services are facilitated by resale-as-a-service provider Reflaunt, and allow users to receive a bank transfer or a store credit at an additional 20%.

On-demand tailoring and repairs are offered for free through a partnership with repair startup Sojo. Currently only available in central areas of London, the programme is set to expand throughout the UK.

Ganni previously partnered with I:CO for clothing and textile waste collection, however it reported in its 2021 Responsibility Report that it was unable to find another partner in 2021 due to being a “small entity.” It is currently storing returned items until a new solution is found.