Deconstructed denim has reached its peak, and celebrities who tend to push the envelope sartorially are first to take the trend to extremes. While this year’s popular jeans styles run the gamut from ultra low-rise and baggy to patchwork, the most eye-catching pair remains one that’s either ripped to shreds, refashioned into what looks like an arts and crafts project, or full of holes.
While this treatment can be traced back to the ’80s during the heavy metal era, ripped jeans were also part of the punk and grunge aesthetics in the ’90s and early aughts. Today, the latest examples are modernized on the runway at Diesel, Brandon Maxwell, Jason Wu, Stella McCartney, Valentino, and more, where designers are working everything from foil and mirrored discs to fringe and 3D florals onto denim. This opens the conversation as to whether rips, patches, and acid wash are actually messy, or simply another decal to admire.
Celebrities such as Julia Fox, Lori Harvey, and Kim Kardashian are testing the waters, with Fox opting for skin-revealing silhouettes and Kardashian utilizing her deconstructed jeans as a bikini cover-up — because why not? These outfits might stop us in our tracks at first glance, but as more of these designs trickle down from the catwalk, it will all boil down to a matter of taste as we decide which iterations are taking it too far.
Ahead, see the best examples of celebrities in extreme takes on denim so far, then check out the undone pants trend that’s also taking over Hollywood.
