Last week at the office, I saw three of my colleagues wearing the same outfit: charcoal jeans and a gray crewneck jumper. Being an intrepid writer, I asked about fashion credits. Loro Piana? The Row? No, all the jumpers were made by Uniqlo.
“It’s not quiet luxury, it’s quiet luxury,” one of them joked (as in “don’t tell anyone”). However, they were all actually excited to wear the same fit, find the same bargain (cashmere sweaters for under $100), and spread the Uniqlo knitwear gospel. However, the jeans are from The Row or Loewe and are the perfect expression of high-level dressing.
This year, finding looks with less has become more flexible, a sign of fashion’s wastefulness and cleverness that even the most discerning connoisseurs are embracing. “I like to think I have a special skill at finding things that look much more luxurious than the price tag reflects,” says my colleague and one of the Uniqlo Musketeers. Vogue fashion editor Mai Morsch writes in her shopping guide for under $300. But does it count as a duck? Moeshu said that while she “doesn’t believe in ducks,” she does believe in finding wardrobe essentials that replace more expensive items.
And it’s true, we’re not talking about camo in the sense of knockoffs of luxury handbags. Instead, as the average price of luxury goods continues to rise, we now live in the hallowed halls of mid-market labels like Uniqlo, Gap, Banana Republic, J. I am discovering a treasure trove of people who are particular about it. , most have been laid off in the last decade or so. Quality is important. As customers become more informed and aware, material composition is always considered when looking for luxury alternatives, and natural fibers are prioritized.
Not everyone has stopped shopping with these brands. It’s that the gap between luxury and everything else has widened, leaving behind a customer base who wants to invest in fashion but can’t afford ‘luxury’.
As my colleague Maliha Shoaib reported last month, the global personal luxury goods market will lose about 50 million consumers in 2024. Similar to the rise of camo culture on TikTok last year, much of this shift in consumer mindset is due to rising prices for luxury goods. People no longer believe that they and their aspirations are reflected in luxury fashion and its prices. So alternative brands have an opportunity to fill that void. And in doing so, they are distorting our perception of what good fashion is. And it’s not just mall brands; a wide range of players, including affordable luxury giants like Coach, have swooped in to fill and conquer this empty shopper void.
Capturing new consumer needs for “less”
Earlier this year, Zac Posen joined Gap Inc. as Old Navy’s chief creative officer and Gap’s creative director. In May, he attended the Met Gala wearing a Banana Republic suit, while his date, Daveen Joy Randolph, wore a Gap outfit reminiscent of the eveningwear designs of the namesake brand, which Posen shuttered in 2019. She was wearing a denim dress. At that moment, I thought: This represents a change in mood, one that has rippled throughout the year and that just yesterday with the launch of Vogue magazine’s December digital cover outlining how fashion is “coming down to earth.” He was crowned.
