DUBAI: Supermodel Gigi Hadid is collaborating with Italian fashion label Liu Jo on “The Gigi Hadid Edit,” a denim-heavy curation of the label’s offerings just after other high-end brands signalled a shift toward the casual fabric at Paris Fashion Week.
The move comes one month after Hadid launched her own brand’s first-ever denim collection. Hadid’s label, Guest in Residence, is known for its cashmere apparel, and September’s release marked the brand’s first move beyond knitwear. Guest in Residence introduced its debut women’s denim collection for Fall 2026, developed with US denim designer Benjamin Talley Smith, whose previous collaborators include Khaite, Madewell and Rag & Bone, according to WWD.
The debut range comprises four jean silhouettes: the Traveler, a high-waisted wide-leg style; the Everyday, a relaxed straight-leg cut; the Weekender, a tapered design with a raw hem; and the Workday, a carpenter-inspired jean.
“Denim has always been at the heart of how I dress — it’s what I live in alongside cashmere; that combination has become my uniform,” Hadid told the publication in August.
Denim is reclaiming its place in high fashion, with designers reimagining the everyday fabric for spring/summer 2027. At Paris Fashion Week, which just wrapped up, Acne Studios experimented with glossy, plastic-like coatings, while Matieres Fecales embraced croc-embossed finishes and exaggerated fraying. Alainpaul introduced metallic silver treatments, and Balenciaga offered wide-leg jeans with twisted seams and distressed detailing. Meanwhile, Miu Miu revisited vintage styles through an upcoming collaboration with heritage denim label Wrangler, incorporating lace-up waistbands into its designs.
The US denim market is forecast to grow by 2 percent annually over the next five years, according to analysists at Swiss investment bank UBS, reflecting renewed demand for jeans as workplace dress codes become more relaxed. The projection comes amid a broader resurgence in denim — once challenged by the rise of athleisure, jeans are reasserting their position as a wardrobe staple.
Emerging markets play a key role in the international denim market, with UBS reporting that the Middle East and Africa region has seen the “fastest denim sales growth” in the past five to 15 years, according to a WWD report in June 2025.
Hadid herself is doubling down on denim with Liu Jo, a brand founded in Carpi, Italy, in 1995.
Overshirts, bomber jackets and Napoleon-style jackets anchor the collection, balancing relaxed proportions with a polished sensibility. Digital prints transform denim into a graphic canvas, while embellishments lend a decorative finish to pieces with a deliberately lived-in aesthetic. Leather cowboy boots, detailed with tonal stitching, complete the edit.
