Does ‘Quiet Luxury’ mark the end of logomania and the lazy luxury collaboration?
When Naomi Klein wrote her late ‘90s seminal book, No Logo, it opened the world’s eyes to brands and their bullying tactics. The book looked at the globalisation of brands, their growth and the power they were wielding.
She wrote: “The astronomical growth in the wealth and cultural influence of multinational corporations over the last fifteen years can arguably be traced back to a single, seemingly innocuous idea developed by management theorists in the mid-1980s: that successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed to products.”
Fast-forward over 20 years and we learnt nothing, brands are even bigger and monopolise the market even more so, particularly in fashion. Giant conglomerates like LVMH, Kering and Richemont control everything from retail to online to marketing, making their brands bigger and bigger.
The recent craze for graphic logos and branding was a visual signifier of much of this. Brands were doing multiple collaborations simply by doing a mash-up of logos, or putting their logo onto other brand’s products. It was all too easy and lazy. Fashion became merch. and good design was an afterthought.
Will we be moving away from logo-heaving collabs, such as 'Fendace'?
But then ‘Quiet Luxury’ came along. Describing the logo-free, Succession-like power dressing of baby cashmere and vicuña with 4 figure price tags, according to Google Trends data, searches for 'Quiet Luxury' exploded in the past year by 614%.
People seem to be getting behind this idea of plainer, logo-free fashion and it feels more than a blip or fad. Looking at the luxury landscape too there is an opportunity for change. Michele is out at Gucci and a more toned down brand is expected, Balenciaga has gone quiet due to ill-conceived marketing campaigns featuring children and many other brands have had a creative switch.
Luxury brands will always rely on brand, but some will be able to dial it down easier and quicker than others. Leading the charge is Saint Laurent. The brand seems to be grabbing the mantle for a luxe and minimally monochrome, exaggerated Halston-esque look that it is hitting the right buttons. It’s a sexier form of Quiet Luxury that is striking a chord.
Retailers and buyers, particularly in North America and Europe, are voting with their budgets. According to JOOR, a luxury wholesale platform, retailers have purchased -22% fewer units of products bearing a logo than during the same time period last year, despite the fact that the volume of logo products offered by brands have increased +32%.
This shift in buying patterns has been most notable in North America, where retailers recorded a huge -43% decrease in logo product orders, followed by EMEA where retailers recorded a drop of -16%. It also noted a steep in rise in orders and order volume for brands that could be considered Quiet Luxury like The Row, Lemaire, John Lobb, Sease, Valextra and Johnstons of Elgin.
Phoebe Philo is the queen of quiet luxury and is about to launch her own label
And it is perfect timing for the queen of Quiet Luxury to return. Phoebe Philo made an announcement in February that her eponymous brand was launching in September 2023 - it had originally been pencilled in to launch in January 2022. The Philophiles, the name for her loyal fanbase created after her time at Chloé and Celine, are waiting eagerly. French luxury group LVMH has taken a minority stake in the new venture, and her Instagram account read, “Our inaugural collection will be revealed and available via our website, phoebephilo.com, in September 2023. We will be opening for registration in July 2023 and look forward to being back in touch then.” The Instagram account @phoebephilo currently has no posts and 192K followers.
Quiet Luxury is a much-needed fashion reset and palate cleanser. Brands will need to put design, fabrication and material first. It will be interesting to see how collaborations will work if brands dial down the logos and have to become reliant on good design and subtle details. Beautiful clothes are back. We can only hope.
Main image: Saint Laurent SS23
