‘Quiet luxury’: No flash, no logos, but big-time style

NEW YORK: They’re the biggest of brands. But with no logos. And that’s the whole point.

Call it stealth wealth, or quiet luxury. For the rich and those who aspire, logo-free fashion with outsized price tags is having a moment — at least among people who can spend in the face of higher inflation and a volatile economy.

It’s a come-and-go trend that, while spiking in the pandemic’s wake, traces its roots as far back as the American industrialists of the 19th-century Gilded Age and France in the 1700s. And retailers are taking note, as are more designers looking to capture not only the rich but their wannabes, too.

Think Hollywood nepo baby and 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.

She was a picture of neutral-toned designer duds, and those who know luxury easily spotted the brands behind her staid, logoless, very pricey wardrobe.

“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.”