“Great people, great music, lots of dancing”: Ganni & Soho House celebrate Copenhagen House’s new mentorship programme

Countless young Danish creatives dream of founding the next Ganni. Now a handful of fortunate up-and-comers have the rare chance to pick the brain of Ganni CEO Nicolaj Reffstrup, who is one of the mentors in Soho House Copenhagen’s newly launched mentorship programme. “I love engaging in mentorships and have had the pleasure of doing so for several years,” Reffstrup says. “Ironically, I learn so much from the talents I work with, as I get to see the world through their eyes and understand their business models, projects and visions.”

It’s the sort of initiative Ganni creative director (and Reffstrup’s wife) Ditte Reffstrup would have benefitted from in the early days of her brand… sort of. “Honestly, had I known how hard it is to build a fashion brand, especially out of Scandinavia, I would have probably never done it,” she says, playfully. “But I think that’s the blessing of stepping into things like this with a good portion of naivety, you take a swing at it every day and just keep going.”

Among the mentees, who, during the 16-week programme, will meet with their mentors once every two weeks, are fashion grads and social media strategists, a classical flutist and a VR game developer. The initiative culminates in a final showcase, in which mentees present or perform their work. Copenhagen is the sixteenth city to introduce Soho House’s mentorship programme and to date over 700 young creatives are supported (stay tuned for Stockholm’s mentorship programme when Soho House Stockholm opens its doors later this year).

So what sort of advice does Reffstrup plan to bestow upon his mentee, fashion graduate Nana-Adwoa Osei? “What I can provide is typically more toolbox-orientated like ideas on scalability, frameworks and guidelines, or goal-setting for how to infuse ambition into a project,” he says. “Success rarely comes from one golden ticket idea or a mentor’s rationalised and tried experiences. It’s about hard work and the daily grind. It takes a lot of grit to get there.”

Related: Ceval, Edvin Ryding and more turn out for our dinner party at Soho House Stockholm

Ditte is quick to point out that the landscape has drastically changed in the 20-plus years since Ganni launched, due largely to the inescapable rise of social media. She sees our interconnectivity as a blessing and a curse for young creatives. “Places and people that were previously inaccessible have become approachable, because in some way we are all connected and social has become a playground to showcase your creativity on,” she says. “But on the other hand it also feels like it’s never been more competitive.” Reffstrup agrees, but with a dash of optimism, adding: “People are so insanely creative and there are really interesting new perspectives out there on how to create a more responsible fashion industry.”

To kick off the mentorship programme yesterday evening, Soho House and Ganni co-hosted a dinner at the recently-opened Copenhagen House. Mentees mingled with friends of the brand – Pernille Teisbæk, Vogue Scandinavia cover star Chili Dia – dining and drinking (and inevitably dancing) at Club Cecconi’s. Ganni always throws a good party and Ditte and Nicolaj definitely brought that special sauce to Soho House last night. “For me there is nothing worse than a super uptight formal fashion party,” Ditte says, noting that the four ingredients for a good party are “great people, great music, lots of dancing and a bit of something unexpected.” “We like to get the party started early and the dance floor flowing instantly. I am always the first one to hit the dance floor.”

See all of the party snapshots below: