![]() ![]() In the modern age, consuming conspicuously is no mean feat – luxury lines have more affordable offshoots, knock-offs look increasingly authentic and many high-end labels ape the everyday. Where over a century ago Norwegian-American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen coined the phrase “conspicuous consumption” – the idea of excessive spending on wasteful goods as “evidence of wealth” – in his 1899 book The Theory of the Leisure Class, Lau links the distressed look to “inconspicuous consumption” flashing lots of cash, but not - at least on a very surface level – looking like you have. It can also, she thinks, be about status. And, looking to punk, she says “there’s still an element of rebellion, even if you are buying something that is pre-distressed – pre-ripped or made dirty.” ![]() It’s purpose, says Tony Glenville, creative director at London College of Fashion, might be to do with (faux) authenticity: “I think there’s a vague feeling about integrity.” Kanye West creative director and Off-White designer Virgil Abloh, whose designs often feature holes, has been quoted in Vogue as saying it’s about the fact that “no one wants to look like they’re trying too hard.”įor Charlene Lau, a post-doctoral fellow in material and visual culture at Parsons School of Design, in the case of garments such as the Amiri T-shirts, there’s the idea of “street credibility, or the gangster culture associated with that”. For the likes of Chalayan, it was akin to conceptual art – as much about the process as the product. David Bowie wore one in Italian Vogue, Sting ordered five. Later in the decade, Robert Cary Williams became known for his bullet-holed T-shirts. The 1995 collection seen by some as the “ show that launched Alexander McQueen’s career” featured white angular-shouldered jackets, shirts and silky dresses with tyre marks on them – one of the models even had tracks running across her body. In 1993 Hussein Chalayan buried a collection in his friend’s garden and left it to decay for months. In the 90s, the grunge movement fed into fashion with tatters and knitwear that looked like moths had been feasting on it. Dutch avant garde designer Martin Margiela, known for his so-called “le mode destroy”, championed distressing. In 1982 she decorated a jumper with several gaping holes and called the look “Comme des Garçons lace”. ![]() And in the 80s, Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo forged pieces from faded cottons, sun-baked silks and boiled woollens. The grand dame of the punk era, Vivienne Westwood, made clothes with intentional stains, rips and missing arms. The look might have a habit of jumping the shark: in 2014, Adidas brought out a pair of trainers covered in “handcrafted mud” and in the same year, Japanese denim brand Zoo Jeans championed jeans that had been pre-torn by lions, tigers and bears – oh my.īut the art of ageing clothes has its roots deeper than just fake mud – rips and holes are as synonymous with DIY punk fashion as safety pins and pink mohawks. Photograph: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Paris Jackson in distressed fashion at the MTV Movie and TV Awards in May. Search “distressed” on Asos and hundreds of items come up. Head of womenswear buying, Leanne Sabatino, says that for the new season River Island has increased its “offering to include nibbled/slashed pieces”, and that, in denim, there has been a “definite uplift in the demand for distressed clothing versus 2016”. ![]() Nick Tahir, head of menswear buying at River Island says it’s been one of their “biggest trends of the last few seasons”. It’s a look that’s big on the high street, too. Michelle Obama wore distressed jeans (the gateway garment – after all, ripped jeans are so mainstream, even Carol Vorderman has been wearing them for years) wandering around Rome this summer. New face of Calvin Klein Paris Jackson appeared on the red carpet at the MTV Movie and TV Awards in May in a “Michelle my Belle” T-shirt peppered with holes. Harvey Nichols group fashion director, Anita Barr, is calling the trend “one of the biggest in menswear for AW17” – they are adding three new brands that offer up distressing, including LA-based Amiri, which decorates T-shirts by shooting bullets through them. ![]()
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