Givenchy creative director Matthew Williams and Bstroy co-founders Brick Owens and Dieter “Du” Grams have teamed up to design a streetwear capsule.
The spring 2023 collection combines the aesthetics of their respective brands and is now available in Givenchy stores around the world, on Givenchy.com and select partners around the world.
“Brick and Du are longtime friends who share my vision of fashion as an inclusive space to experience and express personal style. Together, the three of us are focused on creating streetwear with unexpected treatments that resonate beyond fashion and into the realm of contemporary street art,” said Williams.
“Bstroy captures the essence of the street, and Matthew’s work for Givenchy epitomizes street style with a Parisian twist. For this collaboration, we wanted to merge our respective aesthetics and create an experience,” Owens and Grams said in a statement.
The capsule collection, which they’ve been working on for the past year, includes draped oversized tees with funky graphics and all-over prints in bright blue, pink and yellow on t-shirts and jeans. The line consists of t-shirts, hoodies, jeans, varsity jackets, statement bags, and footwear. Layered colors, iconic embroideries and experimental treatments are highlights of the collection, which includes a Givenchy x Bstroy double-headed hoodie inspired by Bstroy’s iconic design.
Among the accessories are new and colorful interpretations of urban essentials, such as multicolored low-tops, moon boots and limited-edition caps. For women, there’s an Antigona Soft bag with metal charms, a Moon Cut-Out shoulder bag, a denim G-tote, and Shark Lock boots adorned with metal charms.
In addition, there are backpacks for men, one with a classic shape adorned with Bstroy patches, the other with G-Zip with a new interpretation of the Givenchy emblem. There’s also a mint green G-Shopper with royal blue Givenchy’s 4G emblem on one side and Bstroy graphics on the other. The TK-360 returns in new colors, from gradient gray to blue/green and red/yellow. Custom denim caps and multicolored Givenchy letter labels complete the capsule.
The line, shown at the Givenchy offices, is made in Europe and Italy.
Prices range from $370 to $6,390. The line is only available for one season.
Last year, Bstroy’s two-headed hoodie and sailor sweatpants were featured in the Costume Institute’s exhibit, “America: A Fashion Lexicon.”
Owens and Grams has been operating its New York-based label since 2013 as a direct-to-consumer business. The brand grew 45 percent from 2019 to 2020 and 30 percent from 2020 to 2021, mostly attributed to its accessories offering, as reported. The brand has been available at the Off-White store in Paris.
The Atlanta, Georgia natives moved to New York in 2015 and over time their work caught the attention of Williams, who is also a co-founder of Alyx, and he invited them to Italy to work in 2018 on the 1017 Alyx 9SM collection.
“We became fast friends,” Gram said in a 2021 WWD story. “He had heard of our work and wasn’t afraid to say so. He could not have invited us, but he loves what we do and wanted to give us the information to build a brand.”
Owens and Gram frequently make statements through their designs, like a capsule criticizing police violence, but sometimes that has backfired.
In 2019, Grams and Owens faced criticism for designing sweatshirts with bullet holes and the names Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook and Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, all schools and colleges where mass shootings took place. The hoodies sparked an immediate backlash with commenters on social media calling the pieces “disgusting” and “disrespectful”.