2023 had been a year of bizarre fashion
trends: balletcore, fairycore, barbiecore, the coastal grandmother look… the ridiculousness
goes on and on - it almost feels like people are running out of aesthetics to latch on to and make
something out of. There’s something so surreal about this age of creating an aesthetic out
every single possible thing, and it’s definitely something we’re going to look back on and have
that ‘god what the hell were we thinking’ moment. But nothing epitomises this surrealism
more than the ‘quiet luxury/old money’ aesthetic. I made a video a while ago
about Succession’s ‘old money’ problem, how I think people were wrong to use its costuming
as a basis for this ‘old money’ aesthetic, and misunderstood what the clothes in the
show actually represents. And I wanted to make sort of like a part 2 to that
video to further talk about this trend, because it’s 2024 now and this monstrosity
doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. When I first discovered this trend, it was around
late 2022. And I loved it. Partly because logo mania had completely taken over the world and
it was almost impossible to avoid its sheer monstrosity. But also because it’s very synonymous
with my own personal minimalist style. I do love the concept of luxury and luxurious clothing
as much as the next person does. So there’s definitely some hypocrisy in me changing my mind
about this trend, because my closet is basically made up of one single neutral palette and
‘conventionally classic’ pieces. But that doesn’t change how negatively I feel about what this trend
represents and why I think it’s just as bad as the ‘new money/logomania aesthetic’ – if not worse.
There seem to be varying ideas of what quiet luxury actually means. Harper’s Bazaar
calls it 'a move away from logos, from anything too of-the-moment or trend-led’,
‘investment pieces that are classic and timeless, designed to be worn for decades’. British Vogue
calls it ‘a more low-key approach to luxury’, ‘less austere than minimalism, but more polished
than “normcore”’. Elle calls it a 'new-age minimalism, with a larger focus on investment
pieces and thoughtful shopping habits’, ‘curating a selection of high-quality wearable pieces that
seamlessly work with the rest of your wardrobe’. Okay, so let’s break this down, because there’s a
lot to unpack here. While I agree with the essence of these definitions, it doesn’t quite pinpoint
what it truly is. And yes, I am aware that there are countless videos delving deeper into its
origins, nature and impact, a lot of which I have seen – but for the sake of condensing my
argument into a few concise points, I’m going to base my argument off of these given definitions.
I find it quite ironic that it’s being deemed as nothing of-the-moment or trend-led, because it
being trend-led is exactly how I feel about it. In early 2023, I started seeing all these fast
fashion stores like Zara, H&M, Massimo Dutti veering towards this style – and no matter how
you feel about fast fashion, whether you hate it or you’re a consumer of it - these stores are
known for copying high fashion trends to make it more affordable for the average person. That’s
just a fact and the premise of their existence. So I don’t see the description of ‘classic’ and
‘timelessness' being synonymous with this trend. And let’s call it what it is – it’s a trend. I
see how the idea of quiet luxury first started: focusing on investment pieces and curating a
high-quality capsule wardrobe – which, I don’t know if anyone remembers, but capsule wardrobes
and curating high-quality timeless pieces started way back in around 2019 and had its moment, and
it’s essentially the same thing. I actually prefer that ‘trend' or movement over this, because
it was genuinely about finding a tight limit of wearable clothes which you can effortlessly
mix and match with one another, without having to buy an alarmingly immense amount of clothing
which would ultimately collect dust. It was truly a rejection of over-consumption and creating
more thoughtful shopping habits. This also happened around the time when the sustainability
movement came about. People started shopping less, especially fast fashion, and consuming more
thoughtfully, buying pricier but more high-quality and long-lasting pieces – that was how thrifting
became so popular at that time. Downsizing their wardrobes – I was definitely one of those
people, I sold half of my clothes, bought less, made it more minimal. Quality over quantity. So
the original essence of quiet luxury isn’t new. And it seems to me that the high fashion
industry had caught on to this movement, which is in conflict with their interests. How are
they going to make money if people consume more thoughtfully and conservatively? So, and this is
just my theory, they brought about, or fervently pushed quiet luxury into the limelight, as a way
to curb these new shopping habits, or rather, feed into them. They understood that consumers are
looking to buy more high quality, classic pieces, meaning more standard-looking clothes which we
have seen before for decades. So how do you sell something old? You repackage it. It’s luxury
which means it’s the highest of quality (even though nowadays the two are not necessarily
synonymous with one another). If you market something hard enough, eventually people will buy
into it. For a long time and even now, it hasn’t been easy evading this behemoth of a trend; it
has been, and still is everywhere. Every luxury brand came out with their own version of this.
Suddenly brands which have been kept under the radar for so long began to resurface and skyrocket
in sales, like Loro Piana, Brunello Cuccinelli, The Row etc. (On a side note, if there’s any
brand which deserves that hype and authentically embodies quality and luxury, it would be The
Row. I think they’re on a league of their own, but that’s a video for another time.) And then we
started to see influencers buying into and wearing all of these quiet luxury trends. Weekly hauls,
multiple pieces each time. We see it in celebrity streetwear which would undoubtedly make people
flock to the stores. Or videos showing you how to achieve that look on a budget, which usually means
consuming from fast fashion stores. Once again, it’s promoting over-consumption which goes
against what quiet luxury was meant to stand for. Which is why I don’t think this trend
is timeless or classic. If anything, it’s phoney and pretentious. As opposed to
the capsule wardrobe movement, it’s more about achieving that look rather than actually
being a conscious and sustainable consumer. There’s just something very disingenuous about it.
The issue I have with calling this, or labelling this as ‘quiet luxury’ is that we’re essentially
making a trend out of something that couldn’t be more normal. A multi-billion dollar trend I might
add – taking a simplistic product such as a white shirt, slapping a logo on it and giving it a
1000% markup. Doesn’t that ring any bells to you? It's essentially the new money look in a new
form – or should I say an ‘old’ form. The only difference is the logo is significantly
more subtle or carefully concealed, and they also claim these clothes to have
been made with better quality materials and better ethical standards. Which I’m not
saying they don’t, but like the logo itself, I’m sure we can all agree it doesn’t
justify the extortionate prices. The main fact of the matter is, at this moment
in time, logos aren't selling anymore. You know, loud drip isn’t selling anymore. Looking
like you just stepped straight out of a Supreme x Louis Vuitton catalogue isn’t selling anymore.
And because fashion is cyclical and has been known to recycle every 20 years or so, these
fashion retailing conglomerates have to look towards finding new trends and whatever would
currently sell the most, to make new money. Speaking of its cyclical nature, this brings
me to the point that quiet luxury is supposed to be the new age of 90s minimalism. Or at
least it borrows ideas from the minimalist aesthetic which creates luxury from simplicity.
Yet it doesn’t quite capture the essence of what minimalist fashion is. Minimalist fashion came
from the concept of ridding one’s self of excess, distraction and extravagance. Designers like Rick
Owens and Phoebe Philo would create pieces based on minimalist contemporary art, architecture and
modern everyday life. Unlike actual minimalism, there isn’t innovation, imagination or
artistic vision behind quiet luxury. Sure, it can look aesthetically pleasing, but
it has the same sentiment of manifesting a set of interchangeable pieces onto a
Pinterest board – hence the comparison to the capsule wardrobe movement.
It’s not something new – is my point. Not to mention, quiet luxury and logo
mania are both just as pretentious as the other. All these aesthetics – new money,
old money, model off-duty look, balletcore, cottagecore – more often than not, we’re
pretending to be something we’re not. We can’t all be rappers, heiresses, models,
ballerinas or Marie Antoinette living the peasant life. It’s not to say there’s
anything wrong with being pretentious, besides it being somewhat cringey – but don’t act
as if quiet luxury is above all that. In fact, even the new money aesthetic was actually
borrowed from hip hop culture, which has a rich history and origin story. When hip hop first
popularised this aesthetic, it was created as a reflection of the multicultural working-class
who couldn’t afford luxury. It was attainable and aspirational. And people took that and reduced it
to a hollowed shell of its source – flex culture, something luxury retailers immediately exploited
and profited off of. It was only when Virgil Alboh brought it into the main luxury fashion scene,
with his time at Louis Vuitton and his own brand Off-White for instance, that it became a much
more acceptable and respectable type of fashion. The same way they’re doing to the quiet luxury
aesthetic. It combines minimalism and that bit of old money aura, and spat out hollowed forms of the
two. It had its humble beginnings with conscious consumption, ridding excess, minimalism, back to
basics. It was meant to be attainable, effortless, easy to emulate. Now the core idea of it’s been
lost amidst all the high fashion propaganda. With the capsule wardrobe movement and minimalism,
they’re meant to be for the average person. Quiet luxury on the other hand, has significant
elitist undertones to it. That exclusivity, being in-the-know, being a part of that circle.
Even though the average person who buys into this trend certainly cannot afford to have
a wardrobe filled with Piana and Cuccinelli. Which brings me to the discussion of old money.
You can't talk about quiet luxury without bringing up its association with it. These two things
are often confused as one and the same. While they can be synonymous with each other, they can
be two separate concepts. But I don’t think one can exist without the other, mainly because the
thought of old money has become so synonymous with being quiet and low-key, as opposed
to loud and flashy like the nouveau riche. And I think we really owe it to Succession
for putting that connection into our heads, even though they’re not even old money,
as I’ve emphasised in my last video. Which by the way, about my last video,
to those who think I’ve missed the point of the show – I wasn’t just talking about
the show in general because to take into account every aspect of the show would be
irrelevant to the one specific thing I was talking about. I was explicitly highlighting
the fashion in the show which has caused a lot of buzz and paved way for all the talk
about old money and quiet luxury fashion. I don’t think quiet luxury and old money was
supposed to be connected that way. It just adds that layer of elitism to the trend, fuelled
by the media and the fashion industry. You know how some people have pointed out that the luxury
fashion industry caters to the middle class who wants to look like upper class, it’s exactly
this reason. The fashion industry knows what consumers want and feed into it; they know we
want to look rich even when we’re not. This was how logo mania blew up, but now it’s a new
form of looking rich – looking like old money, which is even more entrenched in
the upper echelons of society. So therein lies this obsession in finding
out ways to look secretly rich. I saw this video floating around on Youtube titled ‘What
makes Siobhan Roy look so wealthy?’. It’s a 10-min long video about all the outfits
Shiv wore which makes her look rich, a detailed analysis and breakdown of her looks.
Well, I can tell you why she looks so rich in 2 seconds, it’s because she IS rich. She’s a literal
billionaire. And that video certainly isn’t the only one analysing the clothing which makes the
Roys look wealthy. There are so many of them, and they all say the same thing – muted colours,
simple silhouettes – traditional, understated, standard-looking clothes. All the tell-tale
signs of a secretly wealthy person. But if you take a lap around the central district of
New York or London, that’s the typical uniform for the everyday corporate employee. Most of it is
just standard corporate work attire. If I hadn’t known the Roys were rich I would’ve thought
they were standard people living in the city. And what’s funny is that recently there’s this
new trend floating around – 'corporate coded’, which is clearly an iteration of this
look, a play on contemporary office attire. So why are people obsessed with looking rich? I
think that first of all, anything that’s luxurious and exclusive will automatically draw people in.
The was what happened with logomania, people would get up at the crack of dawn and queue for hours
and hours just to get ahold of a Supreme brick, or play all those mind games and jump through
circus hoops to get an Hérmes Birkin – which, both brands are known to withhold stock numbers
in order to create this sense of exclusivity. The ‘quiet' part of quiet luxury makes it sound even
more exclusive. It’s the fact that you have to be in the know and within specific circles to attain
this luxury. So by dressing the part, you can emulate being in the upper echelons of society,
residing in Park Avenue and paying thousands in tuition annually for your kid’s private
school. And the second thing is, by reducing what’s essentially contemporary minimalism to
an aesthetic, it makes it easier to digest for the general public. The same goes for any other
trend or aesthetic, for that matter. It’s a very Gen Z thing, and being Gen Z myself, knowing what
we’re like, there just seems to be this desperate need to convince people of something we’re not.
It’s a really detrimental and unhealthy reflection on who we are as a community. There’s some
deep insecurity there and identity crises that we have to sort out – it almost seems like we’re
terrified of being ourselves, for whatever reason. But having said all this, there are
certainly brands that embody quiet luxury in a way that’s not contrived,
dare I say. I mentioned a few earlier, Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli, The Row. I
need to make a separate video about The Row, because it’s just such an exquisite
and spectacular brand, not just in terms of the artistic vision and the concept
behind it, but the quality is truly like no other and out of this world. If there’s any
brand which genuinely embodies quiet luxury, it would be The Row. It was doing quiet
luxury way before any of this fiesta began. It transcended this trend by being trendless. It
was only recently that it blew up in popularity, and in particular, certain bags and pieces
have become really sought after. But I digress. So Piana and Cucinelli are also in this
category, but it’s a lot less modern and more ‘old money’ looking. They’ve definitely
modernised it for a newer audience but so far they’ve remained more or less the same. And the
prices are extortionate – I can’t speak for the quality itself, I’ve never bought anything
from them and lord knows I can’t afford any of it full price. But I’ve heard some really
good things about it. With Loro Piana, it’s the Summer Walk loafers and the Pouch Bag which
became really popular, all because of the old money/billionaire look craze. And you can hugely
credit Succession for its success – Logan Roy, and I think Kendall wore the Loro Piana caps,
which also blew up. I was also, at one point, looking to get a cashmere cap from Loro
Piana, having seen it in Succession. A more contemporary brand I would highlight would
be Khaite, spelt K-h-a-i-t-e. It’s a lot like The Row in quality and price, but more feminine. The
Row’s a lot more masculine and man-repelling. I’ve heard this phrase being thrown around when
describing The Row, which I find a bit amusing. If we’re veering towards brands with a heavier
emphasis on artistic vision, as I mentioned earlier, Phoebe Philo era Celine, very creative
but simultaneously, functional and utilitarian, made for the contemporary working woman. Rick
Owens has been a cult favourite by those who are into fashion. It’s very ‘if-you-know,
you-know’. Same goes for Yohji Yamamoto. I mean who could forget, or at least I wouldn’t –
Carolyn Bassett-Kennedy wearing that black Yohji Yamamoto skirt, which was absolutely iconic and
people went crazy for it at that time. In fact, if there’s anyone who embodies quiet luxury,
it would probably be Carolyn Bassett-Kennedy. But back then, it was just 90s minimalism, or
contemporary minimalism when translated to the current era. There wasn’t quiet luxury or old
money, it was just simple, chic, minimalist outfits. But also, she was a Kennedy, so she was
actually a billionaire, not pretending to be. So my conclusion to all this would be to not
over-fixate on this label. Even if you like this look and it’s who you naturally are,
simply acknowledging that it’s nothing to fuss over just adds so much more character
and individuality to your own style. Which was what quiet luxury was originally intended
to be anyways, simple and effortless. It’s fine to follow trends, but to be consumed by
it is, needless to say, unhealthy and tacky. And if you must follow a trend, the only
trend which never goes out of style is wearing whatever you want, regardless of
what the fashion industry tells you to.
