Shredded Clothes Are the Future of Fashion

If the idea of purchasing pre-shredded clothes seems silly, get used to it...this trend isn't going anywhere. Not only that—it could be a "signpost" with the "staying power to shape the future of design," writes Ruth LaFerla in the New York Times. At least that's what a group of Parsons fashion students believe, telling LaFerla shredded clothes are subversive ("Your mom wouldn't want you wearing those") and provocative ("As if you were in a frenzy to get at what's just under all those clothes").

Slashed clothes have been around since Henry VIII and have resurfaced during times of "social upheaval"—think punk in the 1970s and grunge in the 1990s. They're back with a vengeance, showing up at shows including Rodarte and Balmain, not to mention on celebrities like Taylor Momsen and Lourdes Leon. It's a sign of the times, when "people are losing their jobs and abandoning old habits,” says one student; "shredding their identities and searching for new ones," adds another.
(More fashion stories.)