G-STAR F26: A Reminder of Fun and the Power of Working as a Team

The Dutch-Caribbean designer duo is best known for founding their label Botter in 2017. Rushemy Botter was born in Curaçao and studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, while Amsterdam-born Lisi Herrebrugh, who has Dominican roots, graduated from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute after interning at Viktor & Rolf. Their brand Botter is internationally recognized for its “Caribbean Couture” approach, combining cultural storytelling with strong tailoring and sustainability values, and has received major industry awards including the Grand Prix at the Festival de Hyères and the ANDAM Fashion Award.

Known for their own label Botter, the duo is celebrated not only for their creative vision, but also for the strength of their partnership. SLEEK experienced the new collection firsthand. Reviving classic G-STAR pieces, the F26 lineup combined familiar silhouettes with new techniques and a reinterpretation of the brand’s identity. What stood out immediately was the dynamic between the two. Amid the intensity of show preparations, they brought a sense of calm into the room, an atmosphere that felt both focused and inspiring. Their dynamic was clearly noticeable, defined by calmness and mutual confidence.

The show opened with RAW RESEARCH, introduced by artist Frenna and designed by Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh, focusing on experimentation through unconventional construction, exaggerated proportions, and raw or technically treated denim. As the collection progressed, it shifted into ARCHETYPES, rooted in G-STAR’s archive and defined by heavier denim weights, clean washes, and functional detailing that emphasized durability and contemporary craft.

Alongside the show, we spoke with Botter and Herrebrugh in an exclusive interview.

SLEEK: You are known as a strong creative duo. What makes your partnership work, both creatively and professionally?

Lisi HerrebrughI think the foundation is our brutal honesty. We trust each other deeply. When you’re creating, you often need an outside opinion, and with Rushemy I know that his opinion is real, direct, and unapologetic.

Rushemy Botter We also work very differently, which is important. I’m good at creating something out of nothing. I start sketching, building characters or personas—nowadays mostly digitally on the iPad. That energy sets the whole process in motion.

LH: I usually come in afterwards. I work much more with my hands—three-dimensionally, directly on the garment. We don’t interfere with each other’s creations. It’s more like a ping-pong: he needs my input, then I need his. There’s no overlap, and a lot of mutual respect.

RB Respect is essential. Of course, it doesn’t always run smoothly, but we’ve been working together since university. That trial period helped us understand how to work together.

S: How do you challenge each other and push the work forward?

RB We don’t really need to push each other in a forced way. We’re naturally motivated together. Whenever we start something new, it has to be outside our comfort zone. If it feels too easy, it’s not interesting. I often come with ideas for patterns or constructions that look impossible at first.

LH: And I always find a way to make them work—although sometimes I think, “Here we go again.”(laughs)

RBAt the same time, Lisi challenges me when I’m facing a blank page. Starting can be the hardest part. Yes, that moment of saying, “You haven’t started yet?” is annoying—but necessary.

S: You now have a daughter. Has that changed the way you feel inspired?

LHDefinitely. A very concrete example is how she wrote her name the other day—completely free, without rules. Numbers become letters, forms are reinvented. It’s incredibly smart.

RB It’s this naive freedom—no references, no boundaries. She confronts us with a way of thinking we tend to lose as adults.

LH: Sometimes your first reaction is, “No.” And then you realize, “Why not?”

RB It really frees your mind.

SLEEK: You both have individual creative journeys. How do these shape your shared vision at G-STAR?

Rushemy Botter What you see at G-STAR is exactly where we are right now as designers, also in relation to our lives. There’s a lot of freedom to explore, but at the same time there’s a challenge: we want to see these pieces on the street.

Lisi Herrebrugh We wanted to create something new, but also something people actually wear. Building a community, especially with younger generations, is very important to us.

RB There’s a constant tension between creativity and commerciality. That’s where innovation happens for us. It’s visible in silhouettes, details, and construction, but also in the way we work—bringing in people from all parts of the denim industry, from mills to technical specialists.

LH: You don’t usually see those people, but we need them in the room to truly push denim forward. For this collection we’re for instance using a new yarn technology that reacts to heat to create the worn look without the need for chemical treatments.

S: What does “raw” mean to you today, beyond fashion or denim?

LH: Raw is identity, but also a starting point. Raw denim is the beginning of a process—only then does fading and character develop.

RB In a more philosophical sense, raw is opportunity. It’s the pure state that allows many other things to happen.

S: Are there any cultural or societal shifts influencing your work at G-STAR right now?

RB African culture and pop culture are very influential for us. The way young people dress there is incredibly free—mixed, expressive, without strict codes.

LHThere are no clear boundaries between menswear and womenswear. That freedom is something we see globally in today’s youth.

RB In a way, it reminds us of early G-Star, like the lookbooks from the mid-90s. That raw, expressive energy. This was also a major source of inspiration for the F26 collection.

LH: Today’s youth are extremely informed and confident. We want to capture that energy and make them feel connected to G-STAR.

In their office at the HQ of G-STAR in Amsterdam, where we conducted the interview, images from the 1990s were pinned to the walls. The space felt almost like an adult playground — shaped by many different influences, but above all by the identity of G-STAR.

S: Looking ahead, how do you see your roles and your partnership evolving at G-STAR?

RB Honestly, we don’t think too far ahead. We just want to make beautiful things.

LH Maybe that sounds naive, but it’s about balance—family, life, and work.

RB Being based in the Netherlands gives us space. We’ve stepped away from the intense fashion rhythm of Paris and opened ourselves to other forms of inspiration—technology, agriculture, innovation.

LHCross-pollinating with industries outside of fashion is incredibly inspiring.

This creative couple proves that working together can result in strong, extraordinary fashion. Thinking differently, stepping away from the pressure of the Paris fashion bubble, and choosing both family and career — while constantly pushing each other forward.

What resonated the most, however, was something much simpler: having fun. It’s not that deep. Enjoying what you do, being brutally honest with one another, and staying curious. This is what the new collection is proofing. Lisi mentioned that what made this collection feel different was starting almost naively with denim — never stopping to ask questions. Inspired by her daughter’s mindset, the constant “Why not?” slowly turned into a “Yeah, let’s try it.”

And this was only the debut. We’re excited to see what comes next.