The future of fashion? The new Levi's x Ganni collaboration is available for rent, not sale

The collection is 'designed to be worn by many, owned by none'

The Levi's x Ganni collection is made entirely from vintage jeans. Courtesy Ganni

Danish ready-to-wear brand Ganni has just launched a new collection with a difference – it is not for sale.

Unveiled at Copenhagen spring / summer 2021 fashion week, the label has teamed up with US denim brand Levi's to create a capsule collection that is available only to rent. Called Love Letter, it is made entirely out of re-purposed and upcycled denim, and described as an "ode to the wearability, longevity and heritage of Levi's".

This small collection still retains the unmistakable DNA of both brands, though. On offer is a pair of vintage 501 jeans, a Western-style shirt dress, and a roomy shirt with a Ganni favourite, an oversized Peter Pan collar.

All are fashioned from denim hand-picked from Levi’s exhaustive archive, in a process Ganni creative director Ditte Reffstrup likened to a “treasure hunt”.

Ganni first began experimenting with the idea of rented clothing in 2019 and, to date, more than 50 per cent of the brand’s collections comprise recycled, certified or organic materials.

Levi’s, too, has been promoting slower fashion, highlighting that denim is highly durable and, unlike many other materials, actually gets better looking and softer with age.

This new collection is available to rent from between one and three weeks, and looks set to be priced at £40 (Dh192) for jeans for the week, £65 (Dh312) for the dress, rising to approximately £90 (Dh432) for three weeks of wear time for jeans.

Customers can select the item, size and duration they desire to keep piece, and it will be shipped to them accordingly. Once the time is up, customers simply send it back, when it will be dry cleaned and pressed, ready for the next customer.

Describing the process as being akin to “a love letter, it’s about passing it on", this aims to establish a low-impact, circular fashion model, to benefit all involved.

With the collection unveiled under the tag line “designed to be worn by many, owned by none", this is a refreshing new approach, and offers a new way of thinking about wardrobe staples.