Leopard print, leg warmers and a reworked Define Jacket headline a 22-piece collaboration inspired by dance, with Jennifer Beals and METTE bringing the concept to life.
The gym wardrobe doesn’t usually require leopard print, a bolero and leg warmers to make its point. GANNI seems to disagree. Its collaboration with lululemon draws on 1980s dance films for a 22-piece collection that is as interested in how clothes look beyond a workout as in what people wear to one.
Launching on 15 October, the GANNI x lululemon collection spans women’s clothing, accessories and footwear. It combines lululemon’s technical fabrics with the Copenhagen fashion house’s fondness for ruffles, striking colour combinations and a certain disregard for playing it safe.
Somewhere between the studio and the street, practicality is being asked to share the dressing room with personality.
An ’80s Dance Obsession Finds a New Wardrobe
The creative direction comes from GANNI’s Ditte Reffstrup, whose fascination with the energy and aesthetics of 1980s dance films provided the starting point.
Rather than simply borrowing the era’s colours, the designers have drawn on the relationship between dance, clothing and self-expression.
“80s dance movies have been part of my life since I was a child, so they felt like such a natural starting point,” said Ditte Reffstrup, Creative Director at GANNI. “I’ve always been drawn to the energy, determination and sense of freedom in those films, and the way dance becomes such a powerful form of self-expression. For the collection, we brought that 80s dance energy into the colours and details, then mixed it with GANNI signatures like leopard and frills, and lululemon’s world of movement.”
That influence explains the appearance of dance-inspired accessories, including leg warmers, boleros and headbands.
They are recognisable references to rehearsal clothing, although the collection is intended to take those influences into everyday dressing.
The distinction is important. This is not being presented as specialist dance equipment. It is a fashion-led interpretation of movement, combining familiar activewear silhouettes with details that are rather less interested in blending into the background.
What Is Actually in the GANNI x lululemon Collection?
Beneath the nostalgic styling sits some familiar lululemon technology.
The collection incorporates the brand’s proprietary Nulu™ and Softstreme™ fabrics, chosen for their intended comfort, breathability and freedom of movement.
Those qualities are relevant to activewear, although the presence of technical materials does not, by itself, establish how every garment will perform during exercise.
The better-known pieces include lululemon’s Define Jacket, reinterpreted through GANNI’s design approach.
The jacket provides a useful illustration of what the two brands are attempting. Lululemon contributes its technical construction and recognisable silhouette, while GANNI introduces a more expressive visual identity.
Frill trims, contrasting colours and leopard print feature alongside the cleaner lines associated with conventional performance clothing.
There is a practical distinction between the different pieces, too. A technical jacket, a decorative bolero and a pair of leg warmers serve different purposes, regardless of how successfully they work together as an outfit.
For shoppers who already wear activewear well beyond their exercise sessions, that crossover is likely to be the collection’s main attraction.
Jennifer Beals and METTE Bring the Dance Story to Life
The clothing is only one part of the collaboration. Its accompanying campaign, titled JOY IS A POWER MOVE, features actor Jennifer Beals alongside singer and dancer METTE.
Filmed in a dance studio, the short production moves between rehearsal and performance, using the emotional character of 1980s dance cinema alongside a contemporary presentation.
The choice of performers reinforces the collection’s emphasis on dance as personal expression rather than simply a fitness activity.
For METTE, the collaboration also brings together several experiences from her own career, including her introduction to lululemon during dance school and her later discovery of GANNI while working on a film in London.
“This project delightfully tied together so many threads from my life. lululemon has moved with me since dance school, while GANNI’s fashionable charm entered my world when I was working on a film in London,” said METTE. “I grew up learning to weld from my Dad, always looking toward the possibility of a big audition or a break into the arts someday. Getting to know and admire Jennifer and share a dance with her to my music felt like a piece of that dream coming to life.”
That recollection of learning to weld with her father is a particularly human detail in a campaign otherwise dominated by fashion and choreography.
It also gives some substance to the collaboration’s central idea: movement can mean considerably more to someone than the physical activity itself.
The film connects that idea with the collection’s visual references, although the clothes will ultimately be judged on their individual merits rather than the strength of the campaign.
When and Where Can You Buy the Collection?
The GANNI x lululemon collection launches internationally on 15 October 2026, with availability across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Shoppers in the UK will be able to find the collection online at lululemon.co.uk and GANNI.com, while selected physical stores from both brands will also carry the range.
The line comprises 22 pieces across women’s clothing, accessories and footwear.
For anyone considering the collection primarily as exercise clothing, individual fit, fabric and intended use will matter more than the campaign’s styling. Those looking for activewear that makes a more visible fashion statement, meanwhile, have a particularly distinctive set of options.
There is something pleasingly unapologetic about putting ruffles and leopard print alongside technical sportswear. The collection may draw its inspiration from another decade, but its proposition is thoroughly contemporary: exercise clothing that doesn’t immediately announce an intention to exercise.
And occasionally, that’s precisely the point.
