Every year is defined by its own fashion trend. This year the fashion idiom dominating the space is the ‘quiet luxury’ trend. This trend saw a spike in pandemic years but it stems from the Gilded Age as well as 17th century France. This trend is known as ‘stealth wealth.’
The hit HBO series “Succession” has characters who regularly wear cashmere baseball caps in neutral colors and sans logos with subtle Tom Ford sunglasses. Their style intends to convey that they have an expensive and tasteful sense of fashion.
What Is The Trend?
Thomai Serdari, Director of the Fashion and Luxury MBA program at NYU’s Stern School of Business, defines Quiet Luxury as, “clothing of the highest quality, but also clothing that has timelessness, is sophisticated and understated.”
This trend is the new age of minimalism. It’s the neutral tone of black, grey, beige, and logo-free aesthetics that is elegant and simple to look at but only affordable for 1% of the population.
This fashion sense is characterized by “you’ll know it when you see it.” It emerges from self-awareness to not flaunt one’s wealth in turbulent times while maintaining eliteness at the same time.
Mehar Sharma, an anthropologist, told The Swaddle, “You might be floating around in a blanket-sized dress, but the things that are then signaled and paid attention to are things like quality of your skin, the quality of your teeth, quality of your nails, glow of your skin.”
Also Read: What Is This Latest ‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’ And How It Sets Us Up For Failure
Why Is It Becoming Popular?
Like most of the other fashion trends, the shift is part of the cycle. Lorna Hall, Director of Fashion Intelligence, told Business Insider, “As insensitive as fashion can sometimes be, it is still acutely attuned to social dynamics. When huge bits of the population are struggling to hang onto or heat their homes, flaunting extreme expressions of wealth looks tone-deaf.”
When pandemic restrictions started easing out in 2021, fashion trends became more inclined to bright colors, bold prints, peacocking, flesh-blaring style, and dopamine dressing. It was obvious that after the excitement of the post-lockdown period ends and worries of inflation hit the big time, fashion trends would swerve in another direction.
This is not the first time when Stealth Wealth has become a fashion. Quiet luxury dominated fashion trends in 2008 during the Great Recession as well.
Which Brands Will Benefit From this Trend?
Luxury giant LVMH CFO Guiony said that the majority of consumers still wanted logoed products, but LVMH also offers many discreet options for customers.
Loro Piana, one of the LVMH brands, is directly benefitting from the trend. This brand is famous for its simple but luxurious cashmere sweaters. Italian luxury house Brunello Cucinelli, French Hermes, and Armani will be in demand. These brands have been doing quite luxury for two decades. However, these brands are highly expensive.
Going with the trend, reasonably priced mass-market retailers are also promoting durable, sustainably made clothing in timeless fabrics and silhouettes.
Though this might be seen as a minimalist trend, it is clearly a way for the rich to distinguish themselves from the masses. The difference between ‘old’ money and ‘new’ money can be judged based on overstated brand logos and discreet unlabelled expensive clothing.
Fashion trends keep changing, but discriminatory practices never change. The gaps between elites and the masses can never be bridged.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Swaddle, Time, Business Insider
Find the blogger: Katyayani Joshi
This post is tagged under: minimalism, quiet luxury, stealth wealth, inflation, post-pandemic, silhouettes, neutral colors, rich, poor, new money, old money, Armani, bright colors, masses, class, brand logos, expensive, elite, fabrics, benefits
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, or copyright, over any of the images used. These have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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