Haute denim label J.Brand today announced the launch of its 'Little Black Jean', a new model that will be available exclusively in Selfridges's re-launched denim department, which opens next month.

The £495 style incorporates 24 carat gold on rivets and studs along the waistband, for a far more luxurious take on jeans – something that CEO Jeff Rudes believes has become a widespread feeling in the fashion industry.

'We've done things that are more sophisticated,' he says. 'We're matching the seam to the denim, buttons and rivets that aren't copper, finding the right blue.It's more of an denim edit.'

It comes after a season in which high-end labels used denim not just for jeans but for actual pieces  – tailoring at Balmain, dresses at Chanel and separates at Maison Martin Margiela.

The exclusive style forms part of a huge makeover for Selfridges, which launches its Denim Studio with a month-long Denim Lovers campaign that will feature denim exclusives and more than 11,000 pairs of jeans, from £11 to £11k. So all budgets are catered for then.

It comes after the announcmenet of a gold lingerie line too, created by ex-Victoria's Secret designer Breanna Lee, which uses 24 carat thread on bras and knickers inspired by Marie Antoinette and the splendour of the pharoahs.

Suddenly our greying cotton numbers and distinctly non-bling jeans don't feel like they're cutting it in a market that values premium denim as one of its highest commodities.