Our sneakers are not dirty, they are distressed.
Distressed is when a piece of clothing, or sneaker has signs of wear. Distressed clothing has been a fashion trend often traced to the 1970s punk scene in the UK. Back then, tearing apart jeans and jackets turned into a deliberate choice where you showed the world that you were free from the rules. That you wanted to distance yourself from polished ideals and conservative social codes.
What made distressed clothing powerful was that it worked on many levels at once. A main factor to its success was that it was something you could do yourself. Anyone could turn a piece of clothing in to whatever they wanted, only their creativity was the limit. It became wearable art, where the process mattered as much as the result.
This also meant that how your clothing was ripped or patched told much about you as a person. Two people could start with the same pair of jeans and end up with completely different statements. It turned into a form of identity.
One of the first designers who profesionally distressed was Vivianne Westwood and Malcom McLaren. In 1977 they created the iconic long sleeve T-shirt called “God Save the Queen”, which was one of the first pieces of clothing that was distressed as a conscious design choice. It was constructed to show raw knit and featured cutouts as a part of the design. This fast became very popular and sparked a new trend in fashion culture. It resonated because it felt authentic, turning wear and damage into style and identity. (FashionHistory, 2025)
“God Save The Queen” T-Shirt, 1977. The Costume Institute Gifts, 2018. Source: The Met.
Fast forward to 2024. We, The Gallerist, creates our first distressed sneaker. Our goal was to design shoes that people actually wanted to wear. We don’t believe in “saving” things for later. We don’t want you to leave your shoes behind because you’re afraid of making them dirty. We want you to live your life in your shoes and let them tell your story.
We see distressing as an invitation for everyday use. And you should accept it.
Fashion History Timeline (2025) ‘1977 Westwood & McLaren, “God Save the Queen”’. Fashion Institute of Technology. Available at: https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1977-westwood-mclaren-god-save/ (Accessed: 12 February 2026).