Giving the shirt off your back used to be ultimate sign of generosity.

But Hollywood stars Sharon Stone, Benicio Del Toro and Emma Watson have gone one better, donating their trousers for a new charity drive called "Jeans for Refugees".

Singers Elton John and Lily Allen have also handed over their denims to the American artist and designer Johny Dar to transform and then auction them off for the International Committee for Refugees (ICR).

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Within hours of the jeans going up on the online auction site Catawiki, someone had already bid 5,000 euros ($5,500) for Stone's, while the multicoloured makeover of the singer Pink's jeans had reached 3,000 euros Tuesday.

Other stars who have also reached into their wardrobes to help include rock legend Mick Jagger, models Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss and Elle Macpherson, and actresses Eva Longoria and Audrey Tautou and singer-turned-designer Victoria Beckham.

"The world refugee crisis has had an impact on everyone," said the designer Dar, adding that the online auction would close in October.

The ICR was founded by the scientist Albert Einstein in 1933 to help people escaping the Nazi regime in Germany.