PURANI... ERR NO, PHATI JEANS TREND

Rishi Kapoor’s hilarious take on the distressed clothing trend, has now opened a debate on phati jeans

Ye phati hui jeans pehen kar ghar se bahar nahiiiiii jaogi!” Have you been subjected to similar admonitions from your folks, when you were just trying to be in vogue by slipping into a pair of tattered denims? Well, all owners of distressed denims would nod in affirmation. Recently, actor Rishi Kapoor cracked us up when he took a dig at a high street brand’s sale, as he posted pictures of ripped jeans and shredded tops that were on display in the store . “Buy two get one begging bowl free. Sale at Zara’s,” the veteran actor posted. Young people in the city say he is not the only one who finds the trend distressing.

Anisha Singh, an 18-yearold student, has a similar story to share. “My mom doesn’t understand that distressed clothing is a big craze in the fashion world. She gets shocked every time I attempt wearing tattered clothes. I have no clue how to bridge this generation gap.” The older generation, however, don’t seem to be in the mood to change their mind. Bhavna Nigam, 45, mother of two teenage kids , says, “Youngsters these days do the weirdest of things in the name of fashion. I think ripped denims make you look like a pauper.”

The experts’ take? Designer Rina Dhaka believes it is to do with a sense of belonging to a certain period of time, and elders should let young people be. “When we are young, we overlook the obvious and we wear what is in trend. As we grow older, we become more cautious. Let youngsters wear what they want to, as you would have done the same,” says designer Rina Dhaka.

Designer Rahul Mishra however, can relate to Kapoor’s tweet. “I don’t think those T-shirts (the ones Kapoor posted) are even wearable. So, don’t blindly ape trends, use your brains . These are fads, which often go to extremes. In high fashion internationally, this distressed trend is not even there,” he says.

Shopping with mom is fun till she shouts from one corner of the store, ‘ye phati hui jeans nahi leni!’ and everyone starts staring at you HIMANI CHHABRA, BLOGGER I wore my phati jeans to a dinner in Thailand. My husband’s friend remarked, ‘You must give Rina some money to buy good clothes’ RINA DHAKA, DESIGNER It’s a very silly trend. I think soon we are going to see ripped salwar suits and saris as well KITTY KHERA, BOUTIQUE OWNER

PHOTO: YOGEN SHAH

PHOTO: YOGEN SHAH The distressed clothing trend is a big hit with Bollywood and Hollywood celebrities