(di)vision is collaborating with G-Star on a limited-edition denim and upcycled collection that will make your Y2K dreams come true. The collaboration - with a campaign featuring familiar faces from Denmark's fashion industry - plays on the mythology and aesthetics often associated with the free city of Christiania in Copenhagen.


Who says you can't do new tricks with old things? Not Nana and Simon Wick, the Copenhagen-based brother and sister duo behind the upcycling brand (di)vision, who have quickly gained a huge following for their half-and-half pants, double-zipped bomber jackets and vintage Carhartt mash-ups.


Now the newcomers are launching a one-off collaboration with denim giant G-Star Raw, and the combination is a good fit. Simon recalls how he used to envy the older kids at his school who wore G-Star Raw's full-legged Elwoods, first introduced in 1996. He has built half of this capsule collection around the ergonomic denim style of the Elwoods.


"I embroidered a bespoke version of the Elwoods with the number 96 - like the ones I remember from before - and then we also added the (di)vision logo to add our own touch."


But this collaboration doesn't end there. The designer was invited to Amsterdam to visit the G-Star Raw archive, where he selected 96 pieces from the Dutch brand, mostly from the 2000s, to customize. The siblings took an artisanal approach to this upcycling project, sewing a khaki cargo pocket onto a pair of Elwoods trousers or cutting open the hem of the legs to add inserts. Material cut from a work coat was used to create a double hem on a denim skirt, and strips of fabric were woven into pockets and used as a hole pattern detail on a mini skirt.


If (di)vision's last catwalk collection leaned towards grunge, this offering seems to tap into the mythology and aesthetic often associated with the free city of Christiania in Copenhagen. That's not the only Danish connection; the Wicks have rounded up 26 of their friends and collaborators to present these new-old one-offs.


"They are local heroes from Copenhagen who I think represent me and the brand and Copenhagen very well," Wick noted.


G-Star Raw is represented by a rhino named G-NO, which the designer explained is because it can't walk backwards, only forwards. In one photo, the entire cast appears side-by-side on said CGI-generated rhino. This adds an interesting facet to the project as it revitalizes not only the physical but also the intellectual resources of the host company. Perhaps Wick is also hoping for future opportunities when he mentions that Pharrell Williams, who is now at Louis Vuitton, was once creative director for G-Star Raw.


Wick sees collaborations as an interesting, non-traditional way for independent brands to be creative. "Being able to work up through older brands and archives in this way really allows us to think differently, and it's really difficult for young designers at the moment. For me it's important to work with these bigger companies and get into their marketing budgets and stuff, it really helps us."


It's a mutual benefit, of course. Established labels are looking for ways to communicate with new generations and participate in trends like Y2K nostalgia, an area that (di)vision knows well.


"For me," says Wick, "it's not just about Von Dutch caps and miniskirts; it can also be grungy Avril Lavigne style with striped arm warmers and band t-shirts with skinny jeans or neo-grunge. Where I look for inspiration," he continues, "is the 1990s; for [our fall 2023 collection] there were a lot of references to Limp Bizkit; that's the area I want to explore more, the mix of rock and rap, I think something interesting happened there."


The signs of this trend are generally clearer than what drives him, but not for Wick.


"I've lost my taste for minimalism a little bit. I don't know if it's because I'm from Scandinavia. I just think there's a lot of joy in the Y2K aesthetic, and I'm a happy person. I like to look at the world in different ways than maybe other people. I think with minimalism it drained me, I didn't feel inspiration, I didn't feel anything when I saw people in it. I'm drawn to something else. Maybe it's all the TikTok/Instagram stimulation; we need to feel something all the time - even in our fashion."


There's a lot of excitement around (di)vision's upcycled collection with G-Star Raw, but there's not much of it. 96 pairs of G-Star x (di)vision Elwood jeans will be available on G-Star.com and di-vsn.com starting Nov. 16, and the 96 upcycled pieces will be available exclusively at ESSX in New York City.