Summer Fashion 2009

Christophe Decarnin filled Balmain’s spring ’09 runway with models in jeans in various states of disrepair (left). Inspired by their cool look, resourceful InStyle fashion assistant Katie Casamassimo used some bleach, sandpaper and an X-acto knife to make her own interpretation (far left).

STEP 1: Bunch areas on old black jeans and pour a bit of Clorox on each. “When you’re happy with the color,” Casamassimo says, “rinse out the bleach.”
STEP 2: Sand the knees and the fronts of the thighs with heavy grit paper.
STEP 3: Slice the areas you want ripped and pick apart the fibers in the weave.
STEP 4: Machine wash and dry your version—twice. “That distresses clothes even more,” she says.