It seems like everyone's talking about "quiet luxury" these days.
Some have referred to it as the Succession Effect: More and more people are searching for terms such as “quiet luxury,” “stealth wealth,” and “old-money style.”
That’s according to a new study from the fashion brand Karen Millen, which analyzed Google data related to those phrases.
Over the past year, “old-money style” searches grew by more than 560%, while “quiet luxury” and “stealth wealth” saw increases of over 370%, according to Robb Report.
For all of those terms, searches are now at a record high.
Let’s first define Quiet Luxury. What does Quiet Luxury mean?
The term itself is pretty self-explanatory, but in case you haven't heard much about it, it describes a type of luxury that flies under the radar rather than presents itself upon arrival.
Quiet Luxury may be more than meets the eye, acting as a reflection of our financial climate.
While reckoning with an unknown global financial forecast, post-pandemic bruises, and precarious geopolitics, social media and brands alike are shifting their attention towards an air of conservatism, restraint, and anti-show-off and anti-trend trends.
After a stint of ostentatious flash and Kardashian-style bling, the shift certainly feels like a breath of fresh air!
Simply put, it is new-age minimalism, with a larger focus on timepieces and subtleties rather than flash and “in your face” advertising.
It’s a come-and-go trend that moves with the economy and, while spiking in the pandemic’s wake, traces its Minimalism roots as far back as the American industrialists of the 19th-century Gilded Age and France in the 1700s.
HBO’s The Gilded Age showcases another time in history when Minimalism and Subtle Luxury were “trending”
What Is Minimalism?
When thinking about Minimalism, you want to think the following philosophy: “It is when LESS is more,'' as said by Walter Gropius, who is credited with the introduction of modernist architecture to the United States through his design of the Gropius House and his teaching at Harvard University. The phrase “Less is More” is also coined by other famous designers such as Alberto Giacometti, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Constantin Brancusi, Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
A cardinal principle of the minimalist movement is that artistic effect may be enhanced by a radical economy of artistic means, even where such parsimony compromises other values: completeness, for example, or richness or precision of statement. In other words, don’t use everything in your arsenal to convey a message, but instead leave an aura of mystery and subtlety.
When considering Quiet Luxury in fashion or in a way of life that exudes extreme but subtle wealth, think Goop multimillionaire Gwyneth Paltrow and her head-to-toe Prada, luxurious cashmere sweaters and Celine boots during her week in a Utah courtroom in a dispute over a ski crash. Less flash and ostentatious cars, like you see with the Kardashians or some other celebrities covered in bling, and extreme focus on the refined quality and cohesiveness (think Meta founder and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, wearing the same colored clothes every day- a gray top and jeans.)
Celebrity stylists believe Gwyneth Paltrow's style choices have gained so much attention because she's not conforming to the usual business formal attire one would expect a celebrity to wear to a trial.
Quiet luxury is often associated with a sense of timelessness, sophistication, and discerning taste, and it is appreciated by those who value quality, craftsmanship, and subtlety over flash and excess.
The stealth fashion world is perfectly tailored dark suits, often bespoke, no logos; bare baseball caps with perfectly rounded rims; and neutral power pieces worn by the only Succession female family member, Shiv.
While wearing neutrals aren't an explicit requirement for pulling off quiet luxury, brands and figures who have become synonymous with the phrase seem to implicitly favor them (although a pop of color here and there isn't out of the question).
“When you know, you know, and that’s sort of the point,” says Robert Burke, a luxury retail consultant. “The people they care about, the people in their rooms, know exactly what they’re wearing. And they’re the only ones who matter.”
How is the business world embracing Quiet Luxury?
More and more designers, brands and businesses are taking note, and looking to capture not only the rich but their wannabes, too, using this anti-trend trend.
Since the look and branding relies so little on bells and whistles, to nail down quiet luxury means investing and showcasing the basics.
In the fashion world:
Within fashion, quiet luxury may involve well-crafted garments made from premium materials, impeccable tailoring, and minimalistic designs that convey a sense of understated luxury.
In the world of travel:
Travel may manifest as exclusive destinations or boutique hotels that offer personalized service, attention to detail, and a serene, refined ambiance.
In fine dining, interior design, or automotive industry:
In such other industries, quiet luxury may manifest as tasteful, refined, and carefully curated experiences that cater to discerning individuals who appreciate the finer things in life.
How can this trend apply to the world of wealth management, accounting and legal professions?
Wealth Management, Legal and Accounting firms who cater to the ultra high net worth market can embrace this Quiet Luxury style as it pertains to how they market themselves and their brand.
As we’ve described, Quiet Luxury refers to a high-end lifestyle and client experience that is characterized by understated elegance, refined simplicity, and subtle sophistication. It is often associated with premium products or services that exude quality, craftsmanship, and exclusivity without relying on flashy logos, conspicuous branding, or overt displays of wealth.
The aesthetic doesn't include apparent logos, short-lived trends, or flashy animated content that look like overt displays of wealth (or desperate grab for attention). From appearance alone it shouldn't be immediately obvious — only when you look closer do the quality and craftsmanship reveal its designer pedigree.
What are Three Steps such advisors can take to embrace the Quiet Luxury Movement?
1) Your Look and Feel
Remember that Subtle Luxury can be seen as a more refined and understated approach to your firm’s image, targeted towards a discerning clientele who value exclusivity, refinement, and a sense of understated elegance.
With that in mind, start by doing an audit on your image as it is perceived by UHNW prospects [or contact us for our input].
Your first step, if you are seeking to target this niche market, is to reduce the overt flash and downloadable clickbait, and bring in the bespoke, refined elements. That means that if you’ve got a super-animated website with a video that flashes in your face the minute you finish typing in your URL, or a site that’s filled with chat boxes and downloadable pop-ups that add no value to your target market, you are showcasing a non-aspirational image to your target audience. Ensure your Look and Feel exude confidence and timelessness.
Focus on a more aesthetically minimalist look with small pops of color, rather than going full-force with ostentatious and saturated colors. Bring on a more neutral color palette, and reject big bold logos, curating a selection of high-quality with some warmth.
2) Your Content and Messaging
With the advent of AI and robotics, it has become easier than ever for even a nine year old to write content about the Secure Act 2.0 or the Banking Turmoil. All anyone needs to do is type in the question into ChatGPT and get it to write a blog in eloquent language. AI can also create videos with a robotic voice transcribing the content.
To embrace Quiet Luxury, a firm should return to quality, humanized content exuding emotion and Trust-Visibility (Select Advisors’ most critical goal with its clients): Less AI-style technical content, and more focus on highly tailored and poetic, emotional-evoking material.
This also means slowing down the “push” and focusing on publishing when you’ve got something others (especially AI) have never heard or written about. That can come out of auditing what’s most on top of mind with your existing clients and converting those to topics.
It requires humanizing your brand and touching the emotional side of the viewer and reader with content that moves him/her.
Even when creating your firm messaging [read more about our branding and messaging work for advisors] and how you want to present yourself through your brand, remember that your discerning client is focused on exclusivity and a boutique feel. Do your brand and content reflect those elements?
3) Your Client Experience Offering
Spending time on yachts, golf courses and the slopes of exclusive ski resorts might be what first comes to mind when thinking about how the ultra-rich like to spend their time. That’s probably why a lot of wealth managers invite their prospects and clients to the golf club or have yacht-sailing stock photos on the home page of their websites.
While those certainly are within the top ten pastimes of the ultra high net worth society, other activities on the list might be more surprising.
Fishing and cycling are among the ultra-rich’s top ten favorite ways to spend their time, according to new research by wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth and investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners [read our article called “What is Ultra High Net Worth, Anyway?].
Cycling and mountain biking beat skiing to third place, with only golf and art collecting being more popular.
Horseback riding rounds out the top 5, followed by fishing in sixth place — ahead of classic car collecting, hunting, yachting and watch collecting.
Focus on some of these more “subtle” yet highly refined past-times when sending out invitations to get your clients together or find out who they spend their time with.
Want to “luxe” up your brand? Contact us for advice.
Read some of our other articles around ultra high net worth marketing for financial firms
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