Even when I was in high school I thought these were stupid, especially considering that a pair of these off the rack cost a good $60 or more. Why couldn't they have just taken a pair of old jeans, rip them to shreds, and get the same effect without forking over all that good dough? Money must not be much of an issue to people who are making a statement.

I agree.  It's one thing to have an old, ripped-up pair of jeans you love.  Why not wear them? It's another to go pay 100 dollars for a "designed" pair of worn n torn jeans!

I never did understand this one. I can't believe someone would pay good money for these.

Ahhhh, the I'm so completely checked out of this bogus world that I don't care that my clothes are ripped and frayed fad. Yeah, well, I'd say that statement has been repeated enough times over the last 4 decades to at least nominate it for classic status.

. . . in my case, it's not so much a matter of it being a fad than it is a matter of me being clumsy one day while hiking and ripping a hole in my favorite jeans. Oh well, it happens.

What's the appeal of damaged, unkempt clothing that could lose its structural integrity at any time?