DISTRESSED: PUNK ROCK AND RIPPED DENIM

BY GAIL MCKINNEY ‘26

Walking the streets of any major city in the US, you’re likely to encounter someone wearing ripped jeans. They are a major fashion trend now, but have you ever wondered: “When did it become acceptable to wear pants with holes?” Let me tell you about punk rock.

Punk, a subgenre of rock music and fashion, began in New York City in the 1970s. Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground, the Ramones, the New York Dolls, and the Sex Pistols were particularly influential on the genre. In contrast with the velvet, bejeweled costumes of popular rock bands of the time, the basis of punk rock fashion was worn t-shirts and, of course, distressed jeans.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the U.S. working class would often wear ripped jeans as they were unable to afford new pairs. As was the case for Joey Ramone, lead singer of the Ramones. Before the punk rock movement, it was shameful to have holes in your jeans. The bands at the forefront of the genre changed that.

In 1974, Vivienne Westwood collaborated with Malcom McLaren, the Sex Pistols’ band manager. They opened a clothing boutique in London, called Sex, dedicated to opposing mainstream fashion. They sold clothes with safety pins, graphic tees with slogans, and denim with intentional rips, tears, and stains. At the time, these styles symbolized anger, isolation, and individual freedom—the major themes of the punk rock movement. Young baby boomers embraced punk rock fashion as a means of rebellion against authority.

In the following decades, ripped jeans entered luxury fashion and became part of other rock subgenres. In the eighties, big designers like Gloria Vanderbilt, Calvin Klein, and Jordache premiered a variety of distressed denim styles: acid wash, stone wash, ripped, and shredded. In the late eighties to early nineties, grunge emerged in Seattle with noteworthy bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. The grunge movement reinforced the ripped jeans trend by promoting thrifting and secondhand clothing.

Nearly fifty years later, ripped jeans are a staple in many young American’s wardrobes. So, next time you pass someone wearing distressed denim, remember its rebellious origin in the punk rock scene of the 1970s.