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Destroyed Denim Jackets Are the New Bomber Jackets, According to Celebrities

By Elana Fishman

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

For the past couple of years, the bomber’s held tightly to the title of Hollywood’s Favorite Jacket. Sure, the military-inspired style’s been around for decades — but thanks to the enthusiastic endorsement of fashion-favored celebs like Kanye West (who’s peppered each of his Yeezy collections with zip-up bombers), Rihanna, Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Beyoncé, and countless others, it became a full-blown trend around early 2015 and swiftly replaced the black leather moto as every off-duty model's outerwear of choice.

But now, seeing as (1) we’ve clearly reached peak bomber jacket and (2) it’s finally, blessedly warming up outside, it seems the battered-beyond-belief denim jacket might be challenging the bomber for its status as top topper.

Witness Kylie Jenner, who wore her on-again-off-again beau Tyga’s 424 on Fairfax jean jacket to, of all things, the Glamour Women of the Year Awards back in November. Apparently, when you’re a star of her stature, black-tie dress codes don’t apply.

And here's Jenner bestie Hailey Baldwin, sporting a Nasty Gal version that appears to be actively disintegrating on her body:

Meanwhile, Lily Aldridge topped her Rosie Assoulin sequined slip dress with a vintage Levi's jacket with a hacked-off hem for Vogue's pre-Met Gala cocktail party. How's that for high-low?

Photo: Michael Stewart/WireImage

And it's not just models who love the look — musicians do, too. In her new video for "Into You," which dropped yesterday, Ariana Grande pairs her bleached-out and battered jacket with equally destroyed cutoffs. Very Coachella.

And during the final portion of her Revival tour set, Selena Gomez wears an embellished, shredded iteration by C2H2 customized by her stylist, Christian Classen.

But perhaps the most fervent A-list fan of the trend is Kim Kardashian, who took a brief break from wearing outerwear adorned with her own visage to step out in not one, but two different custom-destroyed denim toppers last month. While in Miami, she chopped the bottom half off of one of Kanye's "Pablo" jackets from his buzzy The Life of Pablo pop-up.

Photo: Fame Flynet

But truly, nothing tops the controversial, profanity-scrawled version by Australian designer Pauly Bonomelli that the married pair share with one another (always #twinning, those two). Love means never having to say you're sorry for borrowing your spouse's "F*** OFF AND DIE" jacket, after all.

Want to feign fame in a tattered jean jacket of your own? Kanye's will set you back many, many dollars, but the options in the gallery above won't!

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