EXCLUSIVE: Djerf Avenue, Sofia Richie Grainge Team Up
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The internet’s favorite “It” girls have officially teamed up.
Sofia Richie Grainge and Djerf Avenue, the Scandi fashion label founded in 2019 by Swedish model-influencer Matilda Djerf (with cofounder Rasmus Johansson), on Thursday are debuting a holiday-minded pajama and loungewear collaboration.
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Grainge and Djerf said they met through mutual friend Julianne Goldmark, founder of Emi Jay, whom Djerf collaborated with for a joint pop-up shop in Los Angeles.
“I also hung out personally with [Goldmark and Djerf]; [Djerf] is such a sweet, amazing, kind person. She sent me her pajamas, and I texted her saying, “’I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot with these,’” Grainge told WWD.
“There’s no better [feeling] than when people wear the brand every single day, that’s the best receipt you can get. When we started planning for the last Go Slow drop of the year, we knew Sofia loved the pj’s and the holidays, because our mutual friend had told me, so my partner and Djerf Avenue chief executive officer Rasmus said we should reach out and see if she wanted to do a collab,” Djerf explained.
The organic relationship — a shared love of the cozy Djerf Avenue Go Slow pajamas — became the inception of Djerf Avenue’s first design collaboration: Djerf Avenue x Sofia Richie Grainge.
“For Djerf Avenue, it’s been really important to only work with people who genuinely appreciate the brand, who love our items and actually wear them. I think that’s the best kind of partnership, when it’s authentic and genuine,” Djerf said.
Both Richie Grainge and Djerf went into the collaboration with the mindset of designing something holiday-minded, but also timeless and versatile enough to wear throughout the year.
“When Sofia said she wanted to do the collab, I had designs in my head of what I could see her wearing. We sketched up a couple of options, sent it over and asked her what she liked or didn’t like. She loved everything, which was fun and easy. It’s nice when you have a clear vision in your head and then the person actually agrees to that vision” Djerf told WWD of the collaborative styles’ sweet Holiday Bow print. “From the beginning, I wanted it to feel like a holiday print, but still very Djerf Avenue — our prints are always hand-drawn exclusively for our brand.”
“For me, it was about, ‘How do we do something that’s festive and Christmas, but is not too much or so loud?’ Also, something you could wear year-round and is not a Christmas exclusive. We came up with a simple, neutral-toned pattern and it’s so soothing — it was something we both agreed upon. We’ve also incorporated my dogs into it to personalize it. Two of my favorite things: Christmas and my dogs,” Richie Grainge said.
Campaign images for the Djerf Avenue x Sofia Richie Grainge collaboration feature both women clad in the collaborative pajams and loungewear, with special appearances from Richie Grainge’s dog. Richie Grainge noted that the campaign was shot inside of a house in her neighborhood — a sweet nod to her love of being a homebody, she said — with quintessential holiday decor of stockings, wrapped gifts and a Christmas tree.
“It truly felt like a girls’ night — getting ready for Christmas and baking cookies. We had so much fun,” Richie Grainge said. “It’s fun to work with a friend. A lot of the times when you do these collaborations, you’re working with companies and people you don’t actually know, which is also a cool experience, but I think what was really fun about this was working with a friend. I think coming together as a team, based off of a friendship, was really fun and gave me and her the space to be creative and honest.“
“Within Djerf Avenue, I’m the creative director and designer so everything creative comes from me. I really wanted to make it a holiday, but not a cliche. I want customers to feel this is a fun and sweet girls night, while tapping into the American family vibe,” Djerf added of the campaign’s aesthetic.
The Djerf Avenue x Sofia Richie Grainge collection is made up of six styles across loungewear and pajamas, which sit within the brand’s bestselling “Go Slow” range. In addition to the brand’s bestselling Go Slow long-sleeve button-up shirt and pants, the range introduces new silhouettes including a bow hair scrunchie, a ruffled tank top and short, fitted cardigan and crew-neck long-sleeve top. Like Djerf Avenue’s Go Slow collections, the styles range from size XXS to 3XL, are produced in Portugal and made of Tencel and elastane.
The Djerf Avenue x Sofia Richie Grainge collaboration is available exclusively on Djerf Avenue’s e-commerce, with prices ranging from $29 to $65.
Speaking to customer feedback on their highly anticipated drop, Richie Grainge said, “I don’t know if this is just me and my girlfriends, but I bond so deeply with my girlfriends over our pajamas. When we come together for girls’ nights, us all wearing our similar pajamas brings me so much joy. So I hope everyone can come together, have fun and be cozy for the holidays. Again, Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year, so I hope it brings a little bit of cute love and life into everyones’ holidays.”
“We see our community as part of our extended family, and I felt this first partnership with Sofia was such a natural extension of that extended family. We’re really excited for more partnerships in the future. I think it’s a fun way to find new customers, but also do fun things for existing customers,” Djerf said.
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