Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham, Emma Watson, and nearly 100 other celebrities are donating their old pairs of jeans to a new art/charity project dedicated to raising money for the International Rescue Committee.
The "Jeans for Refugees" project, launched by artist Johny Dar, is, as described on its website, "a global initiative facilitating innovation, communication, and collaboration to raise funds for refugees worldwide." To raise awareness, each pair will be hand-painted by Dar before going on display for a week-long exhibition at London's Saatchi Gallery (starting October 24). On October 30, the pieces will be auctioned online at catawiki.com, with all proceeds going to the IRC.
"Each of Johny’s paintings will be an artistic expression representing the dynamic individual personality that the jeans belonged to," according to the project's website. "These 100 unique expressions and individual drops of inspiration will create a unified art collection, representing a strong wave of support for a humanitarian cause, bringing more awareness and ultimately more help to those who are suffering the current refugee crisis."
Alongside Moss, Beckham, and Watson, other participants include Naomi Campbell, Anna Wintour, Alicia Vikander, Karlie Kloss, Bella Hadid, Cara Delevingne, Zoe Saldana, and Joan Smalls; each pair of their decked-out denim is estimated to sell for between $19,280 and $27,540.
"This started as a humble dream of wanting to make a difference through what I can do, on a personal level, which is painting those jeans," Dar explains on the Jeans for Refugees website. "The rest was only possible through the generous souls that have contributed to this project."