Quiet luxury has lessons beyond dressing up
This is an excerpt from the MEGA December 2024-January 2025 Fashion Op-Ed
We were shooting two fashion influencers at a hotel. As far as shoots went, it was a breeze. Not only were the subjects easygoing, disarmingly funny, and very professional, but they also brought
with them several trunks filled with clothes and accessories from the latest and hottest brands. Offers to help them dress up were waved off. As the day wore on, we noticed their energy dropping, no doubt because of the jetlag and the early call time. At the end of the day, they thanked us profusely and bid us a very tired and dazed adieu.
Packing up, we were shocked at our discovery: several pieces of precious designer clothing were left on the wet and grubby bathroom floor and tub, their boldfaced labels sticking out, looking like glittery scraps of deadstock fabric, soundly forgotten. These weren’t pieces we pulled from brands, these were their own clothes.
As our team dutifully picked them up and prepped them for cleaning before bringing them back, I was struck at how little regard was given to them. Was this luxury, I asked myself. Was this how people with the means and access treated their clothes? As I was holding on to a scarf and a top, I was also struck at how flimsy they felt, noticed the loose stitching. All the value, it seemed to me, was held together by the small, rectangular label.
THE STEALTH OF WEALTH
The rise of quiet luxury came as no surprise. People attributed it to the notoriety of the television show Succession, but if you were inspired to buy Tom Ford and Loro Piana because of the Roy siblings, then you didn’t get the joke at all.
Quiet luxury partly became popular because luxury and fashion fans have become better informed. And it’s going to stay because this way of thinking never leaves. Loro Piana was already a mainstay among the wealthy, thanks to their use of ultra premium materials like vicuña, cashmere, and extra fine merino wool in country club fashion. When trend hunters tire flexing their Summer Walk loafers and Pouch bag, their niche market of people looking for quality wardrobe essentials will remain.
GOOD, BETTER, BEST
Luxury is no longer about the logos. It’s the experience of wearing something that fits perfectly and feels sublime. It’s about feeling at ease with whatever you are wearing because you feel like the best version of yourself, and probably look it too.
When it comes to luxury, Hermès remains at the top with their Birkin and Kelly. Even the most jaded of fashion watchers would agree that their bags, even the lesser known ones, really are worth their weight in gold thanks to their complicated construction, premium materials, and hand finished details. Skip the Kardashians and instead look to the Hermès bags of Jane Birkin herself, The Row founder Mary Kate Olsen, and even politician and lawyer Christine Lagarde to understand just why it remains so desired. As for clothes, recall Martin Margiela’s tenure as creative director, a match made in luxury fashion heaven.
What are your thoughts about quiet luxury? Read more on our take on it in MEGA’s December 2024-January 2025 issue , now available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio.
Images from MEGA Archives
