Aesthetics in Recession: Beauty Marks Economics
Rich people have suddenly become boring to look at. From unadorned red carpet looks to casual outfits in paparazzi photos, celebrity fashion has recently been underwhelming. While this might seem like meaningless gossip, the resurgence of quiet luxury hints at larger economic consequences. Fashion indicators of economic downturn have previously relied on the hemline index; this theory argues that hemlines rise and fall with stock prices. The hemline index has since lost its credibility as a creative and accurate predictor, and is now largely disregarded as financial folklore (McDowall 2013). Minimalist fashion has taken its place.
Luxury fashion products are largely recession proof. This may be due to the relatively small and negative effect on previously ultra wealthy individuals during recession, as compared to their lower and middle economic class counterparts. Yet, even within wealthy circles, 2023 saw a shift away from statement items and towards investment pieces. Even the very wealthy have turned to purchases with the intention of lasting through their lifetime rather than drawing attention. On a psychological level, these items appear as safe investments for the buyer. In times of economic recession, these choices in consumption carry social implications.
Overstated displays of wealth in celebrity fashion comes across as tone deaf in the context of a recession. Ultra expensive clothing items and accessories within the practice of “stealth wealth” provide a solution for the wealthy. These pieces are unrecognizable as expensive to the average person, with slight adjustments to silhouette and textural details rather than a focus on opulent designs. These trends take the form of elevated basics, with muted neutrals and grays, detailed tailoring, and expensive organic fabrics. Outfits from The Row or Khaite do not stand out at first or second glance, and are only recognizable to people who are already familiar with the brands. Retailers, such as The Row, rely heavily on the secrecy and exclusivity of their brand rather than advertising, demonstrated in their cell phone ban during their fashion shows. Affluent tech nerds, like Mark Zuckerberg, are celebrated for their simple outfits, despite their extreme wealth. While these uninspired and repetitive stylistic choices are perceived as signs of humility, his everyday t-shirts are custom-made Cucinelli. Stealth wealth basics effectively shield the ultra wealthy from the prying gaze and public backlash of the middle class, while still communicating wealth to other individuals within the same socioeconomic class.
The trend of quiet luxury has made its way to the average consumer. This is illustrated by the social media dubbed “Sofia Richie Grange style.” In a fundamental sense, this style has led to consumer hyper-awareness of fabric material, with preference to organic materials such as cotton, linen, and wool. Another facet of this trend is building an intentional aesthetic. People are trying to emulate quiet luxury and convey perceived styles of extreme wealth through minimalist aesthetics at reasonable price points. This creates a positive feedback loop and highlights the ironic new interchangeability of use between recession core and quiet luxury. Quiet luxury trends are formed by adapting styles from outside the one percent, and re-emulating them as they trickle down. Furthermore, they now are being emulated again by the same socioeconomic classes these trends gathered inspiration from. This creolization of true stealth wealth and middle class emulations has created an interesting paradox, exacerbated by rapid trend cycles. While these aesthetics share the characteristics of minimalism and lack of identifiable branding, they administer two entirely different sentiments. Minimalism is out of necessity, whereas the latter acts as a way to further enclose socioeconomic bubbles while avoiding unwanted attention from people outside of these divisions. Together, the known retailers and their patrons seem to reject middle class efforts at this aesthetic, as stealth wealth fundamentally relies on the exclusion of and distinction from the ninety-nine percent. The interaction between middle class representations of quiet luxury and its semantic and aesthetic blend into “recession core” subverts both fashions.
Quiet luxury may appear as innocent fashion choices of understated, high-end clothing, but it underscores real socioeconomic shifts and their relationships with fashion consumption, reinforcing divides While attempts to emulate this style have created a paradoxical fusion of their own, this niche visual language was created with the intention to not be understood or replicated by average consumers. Recent trends hint at a transition away from quiet luxury, with brighter colors, a slight increase in logos, and furs. This may signify a long-awaited end to this trend and a resurgence in personal style, where the risk of being gaudy is outweighed by the risk of being uninteresting.
References
Hemphill, C. Scott, and Jeannie Suk. “The Law, Culture, and Economics of Fashion.” Stanford Law Review, vol. 61, no. 5, 2009, pp. 1147–99. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40379706. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.
McDowall, Robert. “The Folklore of Finance.” Folklore, vol. 124, no. 3, 2013, pp. 253–64. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43297706. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.
O’Neil, Ashley. “A Call for Truth in the Fashion Pages: What the Global Trend in Advertising Regulation Means for U.S. Beauty and Fashion Advertisers.” Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, vol. 21, no. 2, 2014, pp. 619–41. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2979/indjglolegstu.21.2.619. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.