How are labels reflecting quiet luxury trend in their assortment?

In recent seasons, the talk has been all about ‘quiet luxury’. According to Google Trends data, online searches for the term have literally exploded in the last twelve months. The latest fashion weeks have confirmed the emergence of this trend for a minimalist, understated and refined style, which has featured ubiquitously on the runways, symbolised by the grand come-back of the suit and the great classics in menswear, and of haute couture looks devoid of any eccentricity in womenswear. More subtly, the phenomenon can also be observed through the materials, prices and colours characterising the assortment of fashion’s leading labels, according to a Retviews by Lectra study.
 

As this new hushed chic is becoming more influential, a few labels renowned for their essential, evergreen style have been faring especially well, like Brunello Cucinelli, Loro Piana, Bottega Veneta, and US label The Row, by twin sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. They all share a penchant for minimalist looks, sophisticated fabrics, a very high level of quality and very high prices.

Their uniqueness is especially evident when these labels’ range is compared to that of a house like Gucci, renowned for its flamboyant style. No less than 37% of Gucci’s tops are in fact enhanced by patterns, prints, embroidery and similar decorations, and they burst with vivid colours.

The Retviews by Lectra study has also noted that quiet luxury labels “tend to concentrate their efforts,” focusing on a single product category. For example, ready-to-wear accounts for 44% of the assortment at The Row and 35% at Loro Piana, as opposed to an approximately 20% share for other labels, while leather goods account for 48% of the range at Bottega Veneta. Only at Gucci are the various product categories distributed in more balanced fashion.

No logo

 
Quiet luxury not only rejects logos and ostentatious features, but it is also distinctive for a palette of natural, understated colours. This is especially a feature for “labels like The Row, Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli and Bottega Veneta, which have a marked propensity, 11% higher than other labels’, to utilise hues like black, grey, beige, white, and neutral colours in general,” noted the study, which also found that “labels that are strongly identified [as ‘quiet luxury’] avoid bold, loud colours.”
 
The difference is even more marked when it comes to fabrics. Loro Piana and The Row feature 61% more items made with premium fabrics than Gucci or Prada. In general, quiet luxury labels utilise cashmere, linen and silk much more frequently. For example, the share of cashmere items is 22% at Loro Piana and 18% at The Row, compared to 2% at Gucci and 8% at Prada.

 
It is instead harder to identify a price positioning that is specific to quiet luxury. Luxury labels by and large adopt a policy of very high prices. It is worth noting that, in terms of “most frequent pricepoint,” Loro Piana sits at the lower end of the spectrum with €940, compared to €1,300 for Bottega Veneta and €1,470 for The Row. Looking at evening gown prices, the study found that Gucci’s are the highest, ranging from €1,600 to €9,800, followed by The Row, whose prices range from €830 to €8,540.

The appetite for quiet luxury isn’t about to subside. In the coming months, even the most exuberant labels are expected to lean towards this kind of style, or to adapt to it at least partly. Starting from Gucci. After dismissing Alessandro Michele, which revolutionised the label’s style over the course of eight years with his eclectic baroque design, the Kering group’s leading label is expected to shift in a quiet luxury direction with the arrival of its new creative director Sabato De Sarno, whose first collection will be unveiled in Milan in September.