Check Your Source: The Origin of … Ripped Jeans

Growing up, my grandmother was always against ripped
jeans, so much so that to this day, I can’t stand the texture
and avoid buying pre-ripped jeans as much as I can. But
as distressed denim becomes more and more in fashion, I couldn’t
help but wonder where it all started.
The punk movement, often described as a mesh of different
aspects of youth culture post-WWII, emerged in the United
Kingdom during the 1970s. Then, in the 1980s, the punk
movement began to dilute: different aesthetics emerged, and
subcultures such as “new wave” and “street punk” came onto the
scene. Much of punk ideology is centered around antiestablishment
and pro-individualism views.
Early on in the punk movement, consumer goods and fast
fashion would be torn apart in protest. As a way to show their
anger toward society, people in the punk movement would often
tear apart denim then use safety pins to hold them back together,
or accessorize jackets and jeans with slogans. In the 1990s, this style
of distressed denim jeans and jackets resurfaced with the grunge
movement.
The grunge movement (sometimes referred to as the “Seattle
sound”) is a subgenre under the large punk umbrella. However,
grunge infused elements of punk music with that of heavy metal
and it often lacks punk structure and speed. Much of grunge music
is centered around similar themes of anti-corporation seen in the
punk movement, but this theme is often combined with themes of
neglect, abuse, and social alienation.
As the grunge movement emerged on the West Coast, teens
often wore clothing such as flannels, layered T-shirts, and loosefitting
ripped jeans in order to take an anti-conformist approach to
fashion. This approach became synonymous with casual styles, and
the look carried over into the 2000s as it became more mainstream.
Despite their mainstream appeal, jeans remain most popular in
North America and are less common in the rest of the world. Jeans
are viewed as something distinctly American. In fact, in the 1950s
and 60s, the Soviet Union viewed jeans as a western way of life,
and jeans became a symbol of rebellion among Soviet teenagers.
The government resisted supplying people with jeans because it
would stimulate the market—a capitalist principle. This led to the
bootlegging and purchase of jeans on the black market, which is
now viewed as an important cultural aspect of the Soviet Union’s
history.
Interestingly, distressed denim often costs more than regular
denim—it seems it’s more popular to buy your clothes partly
destroyed. The punk movement, where the ripped denim look
originated, would surely not approve of the mass production of
pre-cut pants. Punk rockers might have taken us for a generation
of capitalist conformists.