We got Japanese denim, now let’s test the Dutch

2026 began with mass internet nostalgia of easier, Snapchat-filtered times – 2016. It was also the end of Vine, but importantly, it also coincided with the birth of G-STAR RAW’s experimental research lab under Aithor Throup’s direction. Ten years later, the reins of RAW RESEARCH have been passed to the creative duo Lisi Herrebrugh and Rushemy Botter. Through delving into the G-STAR archive, testing, and learning, the artistic directors present the new capsule range of 24 all-gender looks. 

RAW RESEARCH finds solace in the innovation and imagination of denim, where engineering proves how creative it really is, and garments are once more touched by the connoisseurs. And as we know, there are one too many intricacies in finding the perfect pair. But that’s what denim research is for, right? 

To set the scene of this new collection, let’s revisit the icon-level denim history. In 1996, G-STAR RAW developed the Elwood jeans, dubbed as the first pair constructed based on a body in motion, recognisable by its large articulated knees. This logic follows in various garments of the looks, from skirts to an overall-dress trompe-l’oeil situation. Other pieces lean into clever confusion too: reversible jackets between a formal shirt and a classic bomber silhouette don’t make you choose between business and party. Distressed mud-washed denim, too, wants a taste of the double fun with its usage in blazer-like jackets with articulated elbows. Essentially, through G-STAR’s denim expertise, we’re taught how mobility deserves to be for all the body.