World's Most Expensive Living Artist Turns Jeans Designer

I never know quite what to make of artist Damien Hirst, is he a brilliant commentator on modern life or merely a shameless huckster? Hirst, who recently became the most expensive living artist, delights in controversy. Whether its exhibiting sharks and other animals in formaldehyde, creating a diamond-covered skull, or his many side businesses that include the sales of bracelets and art kits, Hirst is probably the heir to Andy Warhol in the realm of merging art and commerce. That comparison just got a bit more apt, Hirst is now going to be working with Levi-Strauss on a line of luxury jeans under the company's Warhol Factory X Levi's label. The collection will be launched in September during New York Fashion Week with the name Warhol Factory X Levi's X Damien Hirst. Items in the Warhol Factory X Levi collection generally sell for $190-$250 for jeans and $80-$300 for tops.