Walter Van Beirendonck doesn’t do subtle. The Belgian designer, infamous for his high-voltage graphics, subversive silhouettes, and a complete disregard for fashion’s self-seriousness, has teamed up with G-Star RAW for a denim collection that’s as unhinged as you’d hope. Titled Denim with Balls, the collection rips apart everything you thought you knew about jeans, reconstructing them with glue, tape, and minimal stitching—because, obviously, the usual way of doing things just wouldn’t cut it.
Unveiled at Paris Fashion Week, the collaboration is a clash of Van Beirendonck’s surrealist chaos and G-Star’s hyper-technical denim expertise. But for those who worship at the altar of Walter, this is just another chapter in the designer’s decades-long mission to make fashion fun again.
Last week, the cult of Walter was out in full force. A lineup of fashion freaks, dripped out in archive Van Beirendonck pieces, wrapped around Amsterdam’s Concrete Store, waiting for their chance to meet the man himself. It was a gathering of the truly devoted, the ones who see beyond trends and recognise Van Beirendonck as one of fashion’s non-conformists. Because if you know, you know—Van Beirendonck isn’t for the casual fashion fan. You have to get it.
Since emerging from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 1980 as one-sixth of the legendary Antwerp Six, Van Beirendonck has been a pioneer of the weird, the wonderful, and the downright outrageous. Whether designing U2’s neon-soaked PopMart tour costumes in the ‘90s, dropping a line of alien-esque eyewear with KOMONO, or bringing his cartoonish vision to the world of furniture with Lensvelt, his work has always been about pushing boundaries.
For G-Star RAW, teaming up with someone as unconventional as Van Beirendonck isn’t out of character. The Dutch denim giant has never shied away from the unexpected, often tapping into worlds far beyond traditional fashion. From working with industrial designer Marc Newson to pushing the limits of sustainable denim with Pharrell Williams, and even turning airport security trays into a fashion statement with the Schiphol Group, G-Star thrives on collaborations that challenge the norm. This latest link-up with Van Beirendonck is yet another example of its willingness to embrace the eccentric.
With Denim with Balls, Van Beirendonck and G-Star once again prove that fashion should never be boring. And for those who really know, it’s another reminder of why Walter Van Beirendonck remains one of fashion’s last true anarchists.
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