The Row Resort 2025, a whisper in a world of deafening ‘’quiet luxury’’
The loudness of “quiet luxury” has inundated social media in the past few months. Neutral tones with deep, clean cuts, oversized blazers, and logo-less leather handbags made an appearance on the screens of our phones as a contraposition to logomania, a trend whereby the brand name would take over the outfit in an ostentatious statement of wealth. However, experts—and by expert, we mean, actually uberwealthy people—argued that richness talks and wealth whispers. Fashion obliged, and logos started to become less apparent on the runways, proving the societal mirror of the predominant classes that this industry is.
Shows like Succession were a window into the fashion choices of the mysterious elite classes, and The Law Court of Gwyneth Paltrow was a stylistic lesson on what quiet luxury meant. The rest is history, history of a deafening, washed-out, nonquiet at-all fashion showcase that cannot be denominated luxury.
Luxury, per definition, is an exclusive good that, through quality and craftsmanship, offers a prime experience. And it has nothing to do with a cream-brown sweater. Before the world crazed about this trend, the Olsen sisters had done it before, and better.
The Row, the brand of the mentioned duo, prides itself on producing high-quality materials, and renovating the staples with an interesting architectural approach to the garment while respecting the individuality of the materials and offering an immersive experience to its select clientele.
As quiet luxury reached its pinnacle, the brand gained more adepts, and it extended to popular culture. It surpassed the barriers of the enclosed world of fashion insiders, who love to gate-keep as much as they love to share.
The Row was now mainstream and was losing part of its initial allure. In response, they reacted with a counter-marketing strategy that has a lot to say about the brand’s main priorities. A real way to whisper marketing. So noiseless was this strategy that no camera shutters were heard during their 25’ resort presentation in Paris; instead, the editors and attendees received a piece of paper and a pen to note their ideas about the show. No cameras were allowed, creating a sense of anticipation in the collection.
The pictures were later provided by the brand. With a noted editorial quality, it provided the message the brand was trying to send: it is a luxury brand, and its universe is exclusive and worth dreaming of.
Lady-like is, once again, part of the conversation, as the last main runways have decreed. The silhouette appears more Balenciaguesque (Cristobal Balenciaga era) than ever before. Fashion is trying to say something: they want the old fashion masters of couture back. And the “ladies who lunch” are very much missed as fashion and elegance prescribers.
The tailoring of the garments was, as always, exquisite. The draping technique was edgy but delicate and classic. A straight-box silhouette emerged to add a feminine touch, while the colours complemented the essence of the brand. Conceptual construction is proven through the architectural elegance and styling of the clothes. A grandiose, voluptuous trench coat reminisced of the 1950s, while the textile and construction of the garment gave it the necessary modernity. Other versions of the same coat were provided in diverse shapes and colours, such as the black one that supermodel Erin O’Connor wears in the sober portrait of her that the brand distributed.
The refined elegance of the garments complemented the neatness of the materials, while the simplicity of the outfits reinstated the importance of craftsmanship for The Row. The heaviness of the outfits clashes with the apparent roughness and rigidity of the dresses, while the softness of some of the top parts gently plays with the light, resulting in a very cohesive, yet diverse collection that, through a chess worth strategy, has reinforced its brand values. As in the old days of fashion, you had to be there to present its magnanimity.
At The Row, fashion is more than just a number. The Olsens sure know what they are doing; they just do not want you to. We do not know if wealth talks or whispers, but The Row is surely silent about what their next moves will be.
Words: @edugilhurta
