Logan Troyer is a damsel in\u00a0distress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The trendy Brooklynite, however, isn\u2019t some cursed princess locked away in a tower \u2014\u00a0but rather one in a growing host of outr\u00e9 NYC tastemakers who prefer wearing their rips, splits and spills on their sleeves. <\/p>\n
As the soaring cost of making a statement<\/a> forces fashionistas to be more clever about how they assemble their head-turning looks, punkish pioneers are putting the distressed look front and center \u2014 a haute swing away from the immaculately made to the messy and mangled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Troyer, a distressed fashion lover and the owner of Red & Kat Vintage in NYC, tells The Post that she fell head-over-heels for decaying clothes during the COVID-19 lockdown. Credit: Courtesy Logan Troyer<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s wearable art,\u201d Troyer, 35, told The Post of her timeworn wardrobe \u2014 heavy on shabby and ratty threads dating back to the 1960s. \u201cEvery piece is a one-of-a-kind. It\u2019s unique.\u201d<\/p>\n For Troyer and other fans of the style, each item is a tattered tapestry of life \u2014 beyond the banal boundaries of mass production.\u00a0<\/p>\n Scores of tumbledown togs will be on full display during Distressed Fest<\/a>, NYC\u2019s annual vintage clothing extravaganza \u2014\u00a0taking place at 1896 Studios in Williamsburg on Saturday.<\/p>\n The yearly f\u00eate, featuring thrashed attire from over 50 vendors, is a day-long celebration of offbeat style and irreplicable regalia.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe rips and splatters carry history, a story of where the clothing came from, who wore it and what that person was like. You really can\u2019t really recreate that,\u201d raved Troyer, a distressed duds connoisseur and vintage shop owner since 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s just something so special about it,\u201d she gushed, \u201cwearing something that took years and years and years to become the way it looks right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Distressed Fest, hosted biannually in New York City and Los Angeles, welcomes freethinking fashionistas to explore the unsung world of timeworn clothing. @distressedfest<\/p>\n Itching to capitalize on the craze, fast-fashion brands and luxe designer labels<\/a> \u2014who can\u2019t afford to wait years for their gear to develop natural spots, nicks and notches \u2014\u00a0are now deliberately manufacturing mistakes, sending smudged, shredded and soiled ensembles down runways in the name of chaotic couture.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Prada nosedived into the mayhem, debuting wrinkled gear riddled with faux coffee stains, manufactured tears and manmade decay at its winter\/fall 2026 showcase in Milan last month.\u00a0The brand currently has an \u201cantiqued\u201d leather jacket for sale \u2014 for a whopping $8,000.<\/p>\n Prada\u2019s most recent show featured glam, grungy looks covered in spots and stains. Getty Images<\/p>\n Acne Studios, too, took a recent ride on the wild side with its latest line, pumping out jeans covered in patchworks of tape to feign a dilapidated, haphazardly stitched together look.\u00a0<\/p>\n Paul Smith and Lanvin both leaned heavily on the life-is-messy motif during their respective shows this season, each introducing eroded pieces with pre-worn, pre-weathered finishes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Welcome to the age of aged attire.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Italian luxury house made sure to highlight garb with aged creases, intentional tears and noticeable nicks. Getty Images<\/p>\n The shift comes as costs continue to heighten<\/a> and belts continue to tighten amid the troubled global economy \u2014 an era plagued by wars, inflation and tariffs. <\/p>\n And the demand for secondhand (or, in some cases, third-, fourth- and fifth-hand) isn\u2019t showing signs of slowing. In fact, it\u2019s projected to grow two to three times faster than the first-hand market by 2027,\u00a0says a Business of Fashion study<\/a>. <\/p>\n In the US, the online resale market is forecast to achieve an annual increase of 16%, reaching $34 billion by next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n The boost is triggered by Gen Z and millennial shoppers who place great value \u201con discovering unique pieces<\/a> and past-season items,\u201d per the data. Research found that 42% of trendsetters under age 36, like Troyer, would rather stand out in tatters than be one in the pack of the polished.<\/p>\n Troyer proudly tells The Post that she often rips ripped and ragged clothes out of trash bins if they fit her personal style. Credit: Courtesy Logan Troyer<\/p>\n And Troyer says there\u2019s nearly no limit to her distressed dressing hauls.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI picked stuff up out of the trash all the time in New York,\u201d she bragged, noting the avant-garde gold, such as deteriorated T-shirts and bottoms, that she\u2019s grabbed out of garbage bins and heaps on city streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s right there in the trash, even if somebody\u2019s judging me for it \u2014 I totally go digging,\u201d Troyer shrugged.<\/p>\n The dumpster-diving diva<\/a>, however, told The Post she draws the line at \u201cbando\u201d picking.\u00a0\u00a0Derived from the word \u201cabandoned,\u201d it\u2019s a high-risk pastime of some distressed fashion community members who break into abandoned buildings or homes in search of vintage treasures.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n When Troyer isn\u2019t busy rummaging through rubbish for discarded clobber, she\u2019s hunting down ruined must-haves on eBay and in-person at estate sales along the east coast<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAt estate sales, I\u2019ve gone down into basements and woodsheds, and dug through areas that I don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s going into to find some pretty cool stuff,\u201c confessed the nonconformist, praising a pair of paint-splattered pants she scored from a 70-year-old artist from Brooklyn.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe and her husband lived in a brownstone, but were selling most of her things before moving to Florida,\u201d Troyer remembered. She typically spends between $5 to $500 during her secondhand shopping sprees. \u201cThe woman had worn the pants while painting since the 1960s. There was just something so beautiful about that \u2014 one article of clothing that features decades of different works of art.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey make me feel cool and eccentric,\u201d gushed Troyer, who\u2019s also like a moth to a flame for outerwear that\u2019s heavily faded from overuse or natural sunlight.\u00a0<\/p>\n Troyer secured an old pair of painter\u2019s pants for a steal during a recent estate sale in her home borough. Credit: Courtesy Logan Troyer<\/p>\n Call it \u201cpatina effect.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Patina is the sheen or color that fabrics develop through repeated wear, oxidation, exposure to harsh weather conditions and skin oils, proving that a garment or accessory has stood the test of time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Items featuring the exotic erosion, such as distressed leather goods, have garnered a 155% increase in interest over the past year,\u00a0according to a report from The Real Real<\/a>, a luxury resale marketplace. The findings also revealed a 32% uptick in buzz around items in \u201cfair\u201d condition rather than \u201cpristine\u201d or \u201cexcellent\u201d states.\u00a0<\/p>\n Battered bags and sticker-covered suitcases have also enjoyed\u00a0en vogue\u00a0increases by 45% and 65%, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n Abe Lange, organizer of the Distressed Festival, began collecting distressed goodies as a teenager, growing up in North Carolina, and furthered his love of the fashionable sport upon moving to NYC several years ago. Emmy Park for NY Post<\/p>\n