Coco Chanel used to say “fashion is an eternal restart”, and today this phrase takes on its full meaning.
The end of flex culture
Gone is the emergence of American luxury in the Trump era of the 1980s, or the Sulitzer era in France, where people flaunted their success, and gone is the bling of hip-hop in the 90s and 2000s. Ostentatious signs of luxury, excessive gold jewellery and visible logos should be banned from your wardrobe. We live in a capitalist society where if you don’t earn money you haven’t succeeded in life. But does success have to be visible to be considered successful?
The birth of preppy
To understand the return of this trend, we need to take a step back in time. Quiet luxury or old money has its origins in the preppy style that emerged in the 1950s among the American middle classes. The style is sportswear chic, with polo shirts, boats and chino trousers, or sometimes more urban, with Oxford shirts, derbies and v-neck jumpers tied over the shoulders. The brands that best represent this style are Ralph Lauren and Fred Perry.
Very quickly, this style also found its way onto campuses and schools as a social code, as seen in the series Gossip Girl, which is the perfect example of America’s golden youth. Quiet luxury is making a comeback, and as with its name, it’s a silent style, minimalist, sophisticated and not overloaded, with sober colour schemes, often in monochrome, and quality materials. You’re in luxury from head to toe, but only the elite or fashion connoisseurs will know what you’re wearing.
The editor’s advice
If you’d like to adopt this style, but don’t necessarily have the means, here are the brands we recommend for medium budgets: Massimo Dutti, Cos and Uniqlo. For higher budgets, we recommend brands such as Bottega Veneta, Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli, Jil Sander, The Row, Céline and Phoebe Philo, who has just launched her own label.
You now have all the codes for the quiet luxury look, and don’t forget, discretion is a silent virtue.
By Audrey Camara
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