In today's newsletter:

— The New Grunge

— Dispatch from Vans Warped Tour

— Lunch with Thaiboy Digital 

— Model's Own: Alex Moss

BEHIND THE SCENES

Welcome to the era of luxury grunge, where the new hot thing is clothes that look like they've been put through the wringer. "They are beautiful in a way that recalls a rusted chain-link fence or an artists' oil-stained palette," writes Highsnobiety news director Jake Silbert, who recently surveyed the biggest players (and wearers) in the new grunge streetwear space. Consider this your primer to the world inhabited by the likes of Enfants Riches Déprimés, Satoshi Nakamoto, *Better With Age, and Willy Chavarria, to start. 

But what's the story behind the trend — is it an economy thing? An anti-IG thing? Are beautifully distressed clothes simply the new horizon of great craftsmanship? Per Jake's perspective, the rise of the new grunge in fashion is both an inversion and evolution of our conventional ideas of exclusivity. 

"Instead of handbags and high-end branding, it's defined by individualized distressing and small-batch runs, plus ultra-luxury price tags," he explains. "So, despite their low-brow appearance, the clothes are both hard to come by and status symbols. It does feel somewhat like a response to prior generations' conspicuous consumption, in that raw, lived-in-looking clothes feel authentic where big logos do not."

And sure, there's tension in everyone knowing these clothes are "inauthentically" shredded — hey, that's fashion. But all the same, there is some great technique at work, as embodied in labels like Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO, for example. At the end of the day, evidence of lived-in-ness is still preferable to the alternative: "We all want something real, and as put-on as the grunge clothes are, they're anchored in some aspect of 'humanity,'" as Jake says. 

STYLE AGENDA

GOOD POINT

—Rapper and singer ThaiBoy Digital — who we grocery-shopped and cooked lunch with — on what he wish he'd known at the start of his career

SHOPPER SELECT

THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES

LIVE MUSIC MAKES FASHION SHOWS BETTER

The best runway trend from Copenhagen Fashion Week? Real people playing real instruments.

ALEX MOSS GOT HIS STYLE (AND AN APPRECIATION FOR CHROME HEARTS) FROM HIS DAD

In the latest installment of our "Model's Own" series, the jewelry designer also shares his shockingly low-maintenance beauty routine.

HAS YOHJI GONE SKIMS?
There is now official Yohji Yamamoto underwear to be had — if you're in Japan, that is.

TREMAINE EMORY'S STYLE HAS ALWAYS BEEN MUSEUM-WORTHY
The well-dressed Denim Tears designer will soon be the subject of a new exhibit at the SCAD Museum of Art.

ALSO...
We hear Hedi Boy style is alive and well (The Perfect Magazine); the millennials are flummoxed by Gen Z dressing (NYT); and the Phia "shopping assistant" drama intensifies (The Cut).