Pharrell Williams Announced as Co-Owner of G-Star RAW

Well that was unexpected. Jeans brand G-Star RAW and Pharrell Williams have announced a strategic partnership in which Williams will be co-owner of the brand. G-Star said he’s “set to be immersed in the company on many creative levels, from collections, to advertising and business strategy.”

Not that he’s a G-Star newbie. The partnership comes after two years of collaboration between the brand and Williams’ company Bionic Yarn on RAW for the Oceans, transforming recycled ocean plastic into denim.

In a statement they said: “With established compatibilities in design ethos and creativity, Pharrell’s involvement with G-Star emerged to be a natural fit, both being recognised for a shared pursuit of innovation…. G-Star foresees that the partnership with Pharrell will stretch expectations with something unexpected and suitably raw.”

27-year-old G-Star has always identified itself as an innovator but the thing about innovation is that you have to keep on with it as you reinvent yourself for each new generation. G-Star needs to target a new and younger market as well as its traditional older Millennial customers, who may have been impressed by its collaboration with industrial designer Marc Newson, furniture line Prouvé RAW Office, and partnership with world chess champion Magnus Carlsen.

The Williams connection has an instant resonance with a wider consumer group.

G-Star will continue and expand its partnership with Bionic Yarn and said that with Williams as new co-owner, its sustainability initiatives will remain a core focus to innovate the future of jeans.

Pharrell Williams Announced as Co-Owner of G-Star RAW