C.what defines the luxury fashion today? How has the fashion system market changed in recent seasons? The answers to these questions reflect a change in the world of luxury goods who today prefers an idea of style to logos, branding and monograms more discreet, whispered, minimal, which focuses on quality materials and high quality manufacturing. The new phenomenon already has a name: quiet luxury. To write the present and the future of this trend we are thinking about the fashion houses that best embody this ideal, from Bottega Veneta to The Row.
Quiet luxury
Money speaks, wealth whispers, goes the old proverb. There is no better definition to tell the new concept of luxury which is gaining more and more space within the fashion industry. The new trend has in fact to do with it stylethe qualityL’craftsmanship of a product, and therefore its ability to last over time and to remain current from season to season. “Beauty will save the world” wrote Dostoevsky and it is no coincidence that the quote can be found in the Instagram bio of a fashion house such as Brunello Cucinelli.
Tailored suits and neutral colors in the Brunello Cucinelli Fall-Winter 2022/23 collection
This new luxury leaves no room for logos, patterns or branding. The aesthetic is clean, minimal, following another adage, that of less is more. The materials used, high quality fabrics, antique fabrics or the result of extensive research, are the key elements of a simple, discreet luxury. Abandoned large logos and bright prints are the visual codes of a maison to define its identity and make it recognizable.
Tweed, declined on jackets, coats, dresses and accessories, is one of Chanel’s most recognizable visual codes, also proposed in the Fall-Winter 2022/2023 collection
Think of the tweed Of Chanelto the skin of veal and the padlock closure that adorns the bags Kelly Of Hermès or al woven leather Of Bottega Veneta. These are elements unchanged over the decades, which make these luxury goods treasures to be found even in the second-hand market.
The fashion houses that symbolize ‘quiet luxury’
There Italian fashion offers many examples of this new trend in the fashion system, through brands and creations capable of handing down a concept of timeless fashion, disconnected from passing trends. The focus is on productseen as an investment that will last a lifetime, like the coats of Max Marathe designer cashmere garments Brunello Cucinellicomplete with Brioni or jackets Loro Piana.
But it is perhaps that of Bottega Veneta the most fitting example to tell the quiet luxury Italian. “When your own initials are enough “ was a slogan used by the Venetian maison already in the seventies, relaunched today to describe the path inaugurated by the new creative director Matthieu Blazy. This Italian maison has never needed to resort to visible logos to make their products recognizable. The woven leather is the Bottega Veneta logo, without having to add details, labels (which always remain internal) or other frills. The identity of the brand, and its recognisability, are well present, despite not being flaunted or shown, in products or on social networks, from which the maison canceled itself last year.
Woven was the protagonist of Bottega Veneta’s FW 2022/23 collection, which marked Matthieu Blazy’s debut
The USA follows the new trend
Among the luxury brands that are rewriting the identity of the industry stands out The Rowthe brand founded by former actresses Mary-Kate And Ashley Olsen, which showed in Paris on the occasion of Paris Fashion Week FW 2022/23 after a two-year stop. At first glance the products of this American fashion house might seem anonymous, so simple and rigorous they are, but it is precisely the clean cuts, the perfect tailoring, the impeccable details and a timeless approach that make this brand appreciated and immediately recognizable. A high quality pursued over the years that has rewarded it, making it today among the most popular brands outside the classic European landscapes.
An outfit from The Row Fall-Winter 2022 collection
The look worn by Kendall Jenner last year and quickly went viral is the most successful incarnation of a quiet luxury characterized by decidedly expensive garments, but whose value goes beyond the price: a white shirt, a T-shirt of the same color, a pair of beige trousers, three items that make up a classic but versatile wardrobe, immediately desirable and to be replicated, even without large logos or prints.
A limited color scheme, clean silhouettes, and top quality accessories are also common features a Khaite And Peter Dothe two brands part of the calendar of the NYFW that are becoming the most illustrious spokespersons of a minimal, simple yet dynamic and young luxury.
To make luxury more and more a question of beauty and elegance.
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