Q&A: Quiet Luxury 2.0
Q: “How do you incorporate the Quiet Luxury trend into your everyday wardrobe? What are some of the key pieces you would recommend?”
A: Quiet Luxury is a trend centered on timeless, understated, well-crafted pieces. No logos or flashy details. Many people will say it’s a high-quality capsule wardrobe or elevated basics, but I would say it’s more than that; true quiet luxury brands focus on fine-tuning proportions – like the length of a jacket – and offering pieces with subtle, interesting design twists. Done right, Quiet Luxury can be an entire wardrobe unto itself.
While Quiet Luxury really took off as an industry trend on the Fall 2023 runways as a reaction against the excess of designer logos that were everywhere post-Covid, brands like The Row, Totême, Lemaire, Max Mara, Gabriela Hearst, and Loro Piana have always embraced a more minimalist and understated design philosophy.
My pointers for getting the look would be to start with thinking of your outfits in terms of color, which for quiet luxury means monochromatic or tonal. For example, all black or creams paired with white or dove grey paired with charcoal. Also look for clean lines and sophisticated, but simple silhouettes. Finally use elements like texture, fabric combinations, and small, subtle details – like pintucking – to add visual interest.
When investing in wardrobe pieces, dresses are a great option, especially ones you can change up the look by layering over a pair of trousers (if that’s a trend you can pull off). I would also suggest investing in a great pair of straight- or wide-leg pants and a slightly oversized, boxy jacket, as both are solid investment pieces that can be mixed with other items in your wardrobe. If you’re on a budget - and who isn’t these days - I think there are plenty of brands offering well-priced, good quality T-shirts and basic knitwear - Banana Republic, Uniqlo, COS, Cuyana, Marcella. So, I would put my money into dresses, jackets, pants, and tops at the designer or contemporary level, and splurge on those items with a unique cut or exceptional fabric quality.
g-xo
Quiet Luxury 2.0 Inspiration Board, Spring 2024
