ICYMI

Quiet Luxury Is TikTok’s Latest Nonsensical Fashion Trend

It’s the cocaine of aesthetics: everywhere if you know where to look for it.

Episode Notes

On today’s episode, Rachelle is joined again by Nadira Goffe for a sequel to their August 2022 episode “What Is a Clean Girl?” The two dive deep into TikTok’s latest favorite fashion trend: quiet luxury, or stealth wealth. The aesthetic’s adherents posit that rich people don’t dress in ostentatious labels, but instead communicate their wealth through brands like Brunello Cucinell, Loro Piana, and The Row. Quiet luxurists point to figures like the Roy family from HBO’s Succession and Gwyneth Paltrow at her recent trial as examples of stealth wealth. But the trend, like its “old money” predecessor, is built on a fundamental misunderstanding of fashion, classism, and racism.

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Rachelle Hampton, and Daisy Rosario.

About the Show

Join Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton twice a week as they gaze deep into the online abyss—and tell you what’s gazing back. All episodes

Hosts

  • Nadira Goffe is an associate writer of culture at Slate.

  • Rachelle Hampton is a culture writer and reporter at Slate and co-host of ICYMI. Her work has appeared in the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian Magazine, and In These Times. She still hasn't recovered from Tumblr’s demise.