True Religion and Baby Phat are teaming up for their first collaboration, putting low-rise denim at the center of a collection fronted by “Love Island USA” personalities Aniya Harvey and Kayda Bosse.
The limited-edition collection, unveiled Oct. 20, combines True Religion’s signature stitching and denim silhouettes with Baby Phat’s pink accents, crystal embellishments, satin and cat branding. Every bottom in the assortment is low-rise, extending the theme beyond jeans to sweatpants and micro skirts.
The Y2K brands are positioning the partnership for both shoppers who remember their early-2000s heyday and a younger audience discovering those styles through social media and reality TV.
“For True Religion, this first-ever collaboration puts our growing women’s business in the spotlight,” Kristen D’Arcy, True Religion’s chief marketing officer, told SJ Denim.
The denim assortment spans bootcut, flared and baggy silhouettes, including airbrushed baggy jeans and pink denim. Fitted baby tees, satin bombers, zip jackets, vests and puffers round out the collection, with hot pink appearing across fabrics, stitching and hardware.
“I gravitate toward the baggy low-rise jeans,” Harvey said. “They strike the perfect balance between relaxed and sexy, and I’d style them with a fitted baby tee or a cropped jacket, accessories and a really great pair of heels.”
Crystal treatments range from all-over embellishments to doodle designs and trimmed tops. Featured pieces include a shrunken satin bomber, a denim mini skirt and halter set with furry details and an approximately 10-inch micro skirt.
The collection resonates with its campaign stars. “I absolutely love the denim with the crystal embellishments because it’s so versatile while still making a statement,” Bosse said.
The campaign, “Making the Campaign,” places Harvey and Bosse in a Beverly Hills mansion, drawing on the celebrity-driven fashion imagery of the 2000s. Both appeared on the eighth season of “Love Island USA.”
Its format also borrows from an earlier era of television. Inspired by MTV’s “Making the Video,” the concept presents the campaign’s creation as a mock reality-TV story, following wardrobe preparations, glam sessions, confessionals and fit checks through the final reveal. Low-rise jeans are the recurring focus.
The approach gives the collaboration two layers of nostalgia: the clothes themselves and a campaign built around the kind of behind-the-scenes entertainment that accompanied pop culture’s biggest productions.
“The reality-TV concept felt like a natural fit because Kayda and I are both comfortable being ourselves on camera. It gave our personalities and chemistry room to shine,” Harvey said.
D’Arcy said the company wants the collaboration to generate traffic to its website and stores, along with sales of the collection.
True Religion was founded in 2002, while Baby Phat launched in 1999 and relaunched in 2019 under Kimora Lee Simmons. The collaboration brings True Religion’s recognizable denim construction together with the embellished, body-conscious streetwear associated with Baby Phat.
“Baby Phat gave women a new language for glamour: commanding, luxurious and entirely their own,” Simmons, Baby Phat’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “True Religion did the same for denim. This collection joins those two legacies. It’s not a throwback. It’s the real thing.”
Following the campaign debut, the collection is scheduled to appear in a seated runway show Oct. 27 in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, with Simmons expected to attend. Organizers also list a live performance and after-party as part of the event.
The collection will be available Oct. 27 through both brands’ websites, D’Arcy confirmed, allowing customers to shop on the day of the runway show.
“True Religion and Baby Phat are two brands that really set the blueprint for Y2K style, and this collab brings that energy back in a way that feels fresh and so now,” Bosse said. “All the pieces feel feminine, bold and full of personality that make you feel like that girl.”