Cut Ups: Shredded and Slashed Styles for Spring/Summer ’09

They say that one man's trash is another man's treasure. In the case of some designers, not only are ripped plastic bags and shredded paper treasure, they're inspiration. This year, several designers slashed, slit, and ripped perfectly good cloth to create patterns, trellises, and delicate motifs that referenced a strange, underlying violence. Jeremy Laing cited shredded plastic bags used to package grapes at supermarkets as his inspiration for his spring/summer '09 line and its artistically ripped dresses. We imagine that Zac Posen had a similar "eureka" moment at his local Whole Foods, given the similar motif used on the slashed skirts he presented last week that resembled paper doll chains. The sisters Mulleavy also took out their knives to produce a series of sex, fishnet-patterned slit leggings and torn, goth-inspired pieces for their latest collection. On the other side the pond, Marios Schwab, Giles Deacon, and others joined the growing number of designers at working overtime with their scissors. Earlier this week, he sent models down the runway with slashed jackets and button-up shirts. Either that, or his collection had an unfortunate run-in with a paper shredder moments before showtime. Now we're not suggesting you take an X-Acto knife to your wardrobe. Such surgery is best left to qualified professionals. Still, you should be ready to for extra ventilation next spring.