From the moment Gwyneth Paltrow entered that pine-panelled courthouse in Utah in March 2023 – where she was counter-suing an optometrist for a 2016 ski slope collision – style titles began to make several outsized statements about the unremarkable, expensive clothes she was photographed in. All those loden coats and cashmere roll-necks – sometimes from The Row, but often from her own clothing line at Goop – were not chosen because they were courtroom-appropriate, but rather as an assertion of the soft powers associated with the so-called stealth wealth and quiet luxury movements.
But here’s the thing: pop culture would struggle to find someone who has been less quiet about their wealth. This is someone who once said, “I can’t pretend to be somebody who makes $25,000 a year”, and this is also the same woman who has talked at length about the healing properties of bone broth and vagina-scented candles. Discretion has never been part of Paltrow’s brand nor her $300 million-valued wellness firm. Take, for example, the Swarovski-encrusted dress she wore to the opening of the brand’s retrospective – Masters of Light – at Milan Fashion Week. (There is nothing understated about wearing thousands of glittering crystals.)
The actor joined Jessica Alba, Barbie Ferreira, Madelaine Petsch and Laura Harrier at the exhibition’s grand unveiling at the Pinacoteca di Brera art museum, which will house more than 50-crystal embellished couture pieces from Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Versace and Louis Vuitton until 14 July. There is also a selection of custom red-carpet looks first belonging to Harry Styles, Rihanna and Marilyn Monroe mounted in various glass cabinets. I think it was Monroe who first said that diamonds – and not polo-neck sweaters – were a famous person’s best friend.
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