G-Star Drops Upcycled Denim with (Di)vision
G-Star Raw is giving its heritage styles a new lease on life through a partnership with Danish upcycled fashion label (Di)vision.
The newly acquired Amsterdam-based lifestyle brand dropped a limited-edition collection of denim staples inspired by its 1990s and 2000s archives last week. (Di)vision curated a selection of cargos, bomber jackets and accessories and reimagined them through a circular lens, creating 96 new and unique unisex pieces.
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The five-year-old Copenhagen-based brand co-founded by siblings Simon Wick and Nanna Wick uses deadstock fabrics, recycled materials, vintage apparel and archive stock throughout its designs. (Di)vision deconstructs old or pre-owned clothing to create new silhouettes, experimenting with prints and logos, its ethos centered on “creating from what already is.”
The partners said the year 1996 became an inspiration for the project, representing both the birth year of the G-Star Elwood jean and (Di)vision’s creative director Simon Wick. In addition to releasing 96 reconstructed apparel styles, they created 96 pairs of custom-made G-Star Elwood jeans.
“I went to the G-Star archive to view everything they saved throughout the years and handpicked the styles that fitted both of our identities,” Wick said of the creative process. Each pair of Elwoods features an embroidered (Di)vision logo and a reference to the year ’96, and other pieces in the line showcase G-Star’s rhino mascot “G-No.”
“The ‘96 Elwood jeans were the ones that were big when I was young,” Wick added. “I remember all the cool kids having ‘96 on their back pockets and it was the number you wanted to be associated with.”
“When I managed to save up money by delivering papers, I specifically remember the Elwood jeans being my first fashion purchase so it’s really a full circle moment for me,” he said. The jeans feature a mid-rise waist, loose fit, inset pockets, a single flap pocket at the back, a cinch waist detail and a button fly.
Wick was attracted to the project due to G-Star’s focus on sustainable denim production. “They work with more innovative processes like responsible dyes for denim and organic fibers,” he said. Only about 0.5 percent of G-Star’s cotton uptake is conventional cotton, with the remainder made up of organic or recycled cotton or Better Cotton. By 2025, G-Star aims to see 75 percent of its materials made from recycled, organic, bio-based or compostable inputs. “That’s important for us in collaborations, really knowing that the company we’re working with cares about that as well,” Wick said.
The designs from the collaborative line are available exclusively at the Essx concept store opened in New York’s Lower East Side in July. To complement the brick-and-mortar assortment, G-Star also released a limited drop of 48 pairs of the (Di)vision redesigned Elwood jean on its e-commerce site for $260, all of which were sold out as of Monday morning.
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