Words by Elise Stavely
If you didn’t already hear, you can now rent a pair of beloved Levi’s 501s. The new sustainable way of wearing the world’s favourite jeans has been launched through a rental-only capsule collection by Ganni and Levi’s. I am sure you are aware of the world-renowned American denim company Levi’s, best known for their timeless denim and beloved 501s that every girl and their mother have in their wardrobe. For Ganni, they are a designer based in Copenhagen who follow a mission to “fill a gap in the advanced contemporary market for effortless, easy-to-wear pieces that women instinctively reach for”. Ganni’s sense of style is full of contrasts and playful personality that has a more unique approach to Scandinavian fashion.
The idea for the collaboration was sparked when Ganni launched a project in Denmark where customers could rent out their styles. With the concept being a success, and a sustainable achievement, they decided to collaborate with Levi’s. Their aim in both projects is to practice a “more circular fashion system” as CEO Ditte Reffstrup explained, alighting their concept “worn by many, but owned by none”.
Collection Details
For Ganni and Levi’s, fashion is about creating a narrative for their garments which has a huge presence in the collection. The collection is titled ‘Love Letter’ and wearers of the garments are encouraged to “tap the iconic patch stitched on to the back of every pair of your #GANNIXLEVIS piece to enter the universe and read Love Letters from the #GANNIGirls community”. Essentially, the idea is for wearers to connect to other customers by sharing their own story within their rental community to see the journeys of where each garment has been. Also, those who rent the items are encouraged to use the hashtag #GanniGirls to connect with others and share their in-depth stories, videos and creative projects on the Ganni Repeat website and their social media platforms.
The breakthrough collaboration entails a collection of upcycled denim pieces crafted from original leftover Levi’s 501 denim, making the iconic hybrid patchwork design. The three products currently available are the GANNI X Levi’s Upcycled 501 Jeans, GANNI X Levi’s Upcycled Shirt Dress and GANNI X Levi’s Upcycled Western Shirt (pictured below). The jeans in particular are designed to be versatile, signature to Levi’s accredited to their button fly which makes it possible to wear them either high-waisted or with a lower rise fit.
These three garments are available from $55.00 USD, based on the price of a one-week rental and they can be rented for up to a three-week period. The garments are currently waitlisted, however you can join their waitlist at https://repeat.ganni.com/us/en/ganni-x-levis/.
Renting with COVID-19 Safety
If you’re worried about the safety of renting with COVID-19, Ganni has ensured that they are implementing safe rental practices by implementing a protocol of cleaning and storing each garment before it can be resent out to other customers. The items are also shipped sustainably in RePack which is a reusable packaging material. This is thoroughly cleaned as well prior to resending items to customers.
The future of renting in fashion
Could this potentially be the opening to the future of fashion retail? Could we be renting more than we buy in 5 years’ time? For some, it’s certainly possible. While fashion rental companies usually only offer occasion-wear, embarking on more everyday-items and casual wear can potentially drive further sustainability and draw us out of being an industry
known for heavy environmental destruction caused by mass production.Karyn Hillman, Levi’s chief product officer explained that she personally sees rental as a viable long-term solution to fashion-industry waste. For the sake of future fashion, let’s make it happen.
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