Appeal of quiet luxury trend confirmed by JOOR wholesale data

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 1, 2023

The quiet luxury trend has been making a big impact this year, despite some scepticism about its durability, but wholesale data appears to show it’s being backed by retail buyers.

Quiet luxury, as typified by labels such as The Row and widely discussed following Gwyneth Paltrow’s masterclass in wearing the trend during her recent courtroom appearances, has seen a lot of editorial space dedicated to it in 2023.

But some have wondered whether its understatement and lack of detail will appeal widely at retail, assuming many affluent shoppers want their purchases to scream ‘luxury’ and stand out from the crowd via plenty of detail. The trend is also the exact opposite of the maximalist and logo trends that have been so strong for so many seasons.

But on Thursday, digital wholesale management ecosystem JOOR said that online searches for 'quiet luxury,' 'stealth wealth,' and 'old money style' have skyrocketed in recent months. 

Its data “confirms the trend” and in particular that means a “growing shift towards logo-free products and minimally branded clothing”.

In 2023, retailer unit purchases of products bearing a logo are down 22% year on year. That could be a problem for labels as the decline comes “despite the fact that the volume of logo products offered by brands has increased 32%”. 

This shift in buying patterns has been most notable in North America, where retailers’ logo product orders fell a huge 43%, followed by EMEA where retailer orders have dropped 16%.

That’s especially interesting given that a number of companies at the luxury end have reported a slowdown in the US in recent periods. Could it mean that the summer clearance sales will be dominated by markdowns on hard-to-shift logo products?

But JOOR said the global trend “has not yet impacted APAC-based retailers to the same degree” with the appetite for logo products continuing and APAC-based retailers purchasing 8% more units than last year.

The wholesale platform also said brands epitomising quiet luxury have seen higher orders. It looked at a representative set of 15 luxury brands on JOOR, including The Row, Lemaire, John Lobb, Sease, Valextra and Johnstons of Elgin. They’ve seen an increase in 2023 of 6% in the number of orders and 22% in wholesale transaction volume versus last year.

JOOR CEO Kristin Savilia referenced the “Succession-effect” and added that “while the logo isn’t dead, it is taking a back seat to a luxurious, unbranded look that is subtle, understated, and more about the wearer.”