Today, Vogue Scandinavia exclusively presents Ganni’s latest collaboration with Copenhagen-based label Stem. We sit down with Sarah Brunnhuber, founder of Stem, to talk about the zero-waste denim collection and her textile system that paves the way for a circular future
As an ode to craftsmanship and sustainable design, Stem is launching a zero-waste collaboration with Scandinavia’s it-girl favourite, Ganni. The three-piece denim collection consists of a button-down jacket, wide-leg trousers and a floaty a-line dress, merging classic Ganni silhouettes with Stem’s raw, artisanal finish. Impressive fringing and psychedelic patterns permeate the collection, but it's the industry-wide solution for a more sustainable future, hidden beneath the garments, that offers the most edge.
Technical developments within knitwear, especially across the Nordics, are making it easy to create zero-waste knitted garments. But when it comes to woven fabrics, these processes simply don’t exist. Proposing a fashion-friendly solution, Sarah Brunnhuber - Copenhagen’s new kid on the block - founded Stem to offer a holistic technique-led approach.
Photo: Stem x Ganni.
Photo: Stem x Ganni.
As a British-born designer, it was London’s metropolis that peaked her interest in the arts. Tip-toeing around galleries on the weekends and weaving after school, it wasn’t long before Brunnhuber’s artistic endeavours extended beyond recreation and formed her career. It began with the art of loom-weaving, a slow and momentous process, and it wasn’t long until she took a seat in front of a digital loom to create intricate woven designs. “I’ve always been fascinated by colour and textiles. I can’t really remember a time where I wasn’t interested in fashion”, she recalls.
“In the beginning, it took a whole month to produce a single garment”. For Brunnhuber, weaving is second nature, but it was during her student days at Design Academy Eindhoven that her new methods of weaving really began to take shape. With a giddy motivation to “push looms to their limit” and slow down the fashion industry, she ushered in and out of laboratories and workshops across Europe to experiment with material combinations and design methods. “It took me another two and a half years to adapt the technique to current industrial looms, and to raise the necessary funds to industrialise the technique”, before she finally settled in Copenhagen to establish what we now know as Stem.
Searching for a solution to fast fashion, however, is no easy feat. “We seem to have simply accepted the fact that on average between 15% - 25% of a woven fabric is thrown away as off-cuts”, says Brunnhuber. Every day, thousands of tonnes of fabric are wasted in fashion supply chains, only to be discarded as waste, and in 2018, the fashion industry ranked as the second most polluting industry in the world, producing an astonishing 100 millions tons of waste. Offering a responsible solution, Stem “produces garments where the entire fabric is used, so there is no cutting or sewing waste”. As a designer, Brunnhuber is empathic and intuitive, constantly looking for new ways to do better. “I digitise the pattern pieces”, she says, “using a software to arrange them in the most efficient way” before “weaving them directly on the loom”.
Photo: Stem x Ganni.
Photo: Stem x Ganni.
Using three iconic Ganni styles as the base, the eclectic collection is brought to life using Stem’s unique woven textile system. “Stem is not based on seasons”, Brunnhuber explains, “so it’s important to produce pieces that feel timeless”. Because denim is one of the most timeless and anti-trend fabrics in fashion, Brunnher reveals that she was eager to work with denim, not only to create garments that beckon as a wardrobe staple, but to develop some of the most responsible denim in the industry. She continues, “each piece is made of 100% certified organic cotton. Every button is removable, to increase the chance of the product being fully-recycled with existing infrastructure”. And like many of Stem’s pieces, the collection is unisex.
Creative Director of Ganni, Ditte Reffstrup, worked side-by-side with Brunnhuber to infuse unapologetic quirks into the capsule. The collection borrows from classic Ganni designs to complement the Stem-inspired fringing. “I love how the fabric informs the design with all the playful fringes”, Reffstrup muses. “Sarah is such a talented designer and her zero-waste system is so inspiring”. For her, the garments reflect the meeting of two minds that share a mutual vision, where “good design and responsibility” are sewn together. Like Stem, Ganni operates through a circularity strategy, pledging to create upcycled and reworked garments.
Sarah Brunnhuber, founder of Stem.
Photo: Stem x Ganni.
Stem’s partnership with Ganni is a natural, happy coincidence. “When I first had the idea for Stem, I wrote a list of brands I would love to work with and Ganni was one of them”. Not only have they garnered a cultish following as a Nordic fashion favourite, “they take their responsibility mission so seriously”. Brunnhuber recalls her first memory of the brand, when she moved to Copenhagen and immersed into the sartorial Scandi flock dressed in Ganni's “iconic big frill collar cotton shirt. “Ganni is very much part of the city’s style and given that I’m from London, working with them makes me feel like I’m part of the city a bit more”.
An eager pioneering spirit embodies the very essence of Brunnhuber. In the future, she hopes to maximise Stem’s impact on the industry through the art of collaboration. With a highly anticipated line-up of collaborations round the corner, she continues to experiment with different materials and new designs. While it’s true that each collection manifests newness, every garment is woven with the same intention; to “shine a light on the work and craft”.
Brunnhuber believes that “the best way to achieve a mindset change” and tackle the deep-rooted issue of throwaway culture is to inspire others. “My aim is to make customers think more about the craftsmanship and work involved, to value their garments more and make well-informed conscious purchases.”
Stem and Ganni’s collection launches today in conjunction with the Global Fashion Summit and will be available exclusively in Ganni’s Copenhagen flagship store.