There’s been an increasing demand in recent times for understated elegance. Instead of extra large logos plastered all over designer products, the phrase “quiet luxury” is being mentioned more and more often in fashion circles.
What does it actually mean? The fashion magazine Harpers Bazaar describes quiet luxury as “the aesthetics of stealth wealth.” In fashion terms: neutral colours, simple designs and sophistication that is only evident in the details.
Status is signalled only subtly, with the very highest quality and exquisite materials. Logos, on the other hand, remain inconspicuous or are not visible at all.
“Quiet luxury whispers, loud luxury shouts,” explains Fernando Fastoso, Professor of Brand Management, Luxury and High-Class Brands at Germany’s Pforzheim University. “Loud luxury communicates to the masses, quiet luxury only to those ‘in the know’.”
Status, but only at second glance
Fastoso believes consumers mainly want to communicate a sense of belonging with loud luxury, while “quiet luxury communicates connoisseurship,” Fastoso says. It’s about conveying affluence and status, but only at second glance.
Quiet luxury is increasingly practised at times of crisis. The principle is old, the name is new. In light of the news in recent years – coronavirus, the war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East – it is simply not appropriate to boast about your wealth.
But it’s more than just stealth wealth fashion. “I see the development of the global luxury market as the decisive factor, especially the Chinese market,” says Fernando Fastoso. “It is maturing and luxury items there are no longer a novelty that only a few buyers can afford”.
As a result, the understanding of the status that can be achieved through a luxury product continues to evolve. “In more mature markets, status is no longer achieved simply by owning luxury, but by owning a special luxury.”
Quiet luxury includes the ability to decipher it, which makes it accessible and comprehensible only to a small, exclusive group. And because the Chinese market is so important in the context of global luxury sales, quiet luxury has also become more important overall.
Durable and versatile
This is also anything but a “fast fashion” trend, because sustainability also plays a key role. Individual high-quality and long-lasting pieces are preferred to trendy fast fashion pieces that end up in the back of the wardrobe after just one season. Simple colours that can be combined in a variety of ways are more in demand than garments in trendy colours that may feel dated next season.
For style consultant Andreas Rose, quiet luxury is characterized by monochrome looks, and colour tones “that alternate between white and black.” Creamy white and beige are common, too.
The wide-cut blazers, high-cut suit trousers, straight-fit jeans or straight-cut fabric trousers and minimalist dresses with only small eye-catching details, which can be seen a lot in the current collections, also feature in this form of luxury.
“Another way of looking at this trend is that luxury has to do with indulgence,” says Andreas Rose. “That would be real luxury. You don’t need spectators to enjoy luxury, you need time and friends.”
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