So, yes, Gen Z is leaning toward minimalism. But why is simplicity now described as a luxury when it wasn’t in previous times of economic decline? While these simple pieces reflect the current state of luxury brands, logo-less The Row bags and Khaite jeans weren’t always what you’d envision when you think about luxury. In the ’90s and during the 2009 recession, this look was referred to as “norm” and exemplified the lesser class. The difference between now and then lies in the 2020 pandemic, which stripped control and agency. In 2009, the recession was blamed on consumption and people on Wall Street acting recklessly, so there was widespread social disdain for the rich. (In poll results for The Atlantic, most Americans supported the Occupy Wall Street movement.) While 2020 wasn’t a peak of economic demise, there was a sense of emotional awareness, especially for young people graduating and beginning careers during the pandemic.
Makoni explains how both similar methods of inconspicuous consumption become categorized differently. “In 2020, because you were invited into people’s homes via Zoom calls and social media, it was one thing to be crammed into a smaller home but then see another person frolicking in their cottage that’s clearly not a cottage,” Makoni says. “Celebrities were talking about being pent up in their massive mansions. I think that created, for Gen Z, some sort of distorted maze, and then you layer in the inflation crisis, political instability, war, policing women’s bodies, and a looming recession.”
From there, quiet luxury doesn’t seem all that surprising. For a generation that was thrust into a front-row seat to the private and extremely comfortable lives of the wealthy during the pandemic, it becomes transcendent property. The thought becomes, “This person has a ton of money and can do whatever they want, and I want that too.”
No longer are young people under the impression that it’s gross to be rich. After witnessing the disparity of the pandemic, it became clear that those who had it best were the ones with wealth. Rather than wanting to back away from a rich aesthetic and lifestyle, they’re now seeking it out, hoping to leave the struggles they faced during Covid in the past and embrace a less worrisome, more luxurious future. “Wealth doesn’t equal seven Range Rovers and posting up on a yacht anymore,” Makoni explains. “It can genuinely be a gorgeous cabin in the middle of the woods or a farm and no one talking to you—there are so many ways to navigate [wealth]. The common thread is having the capital to do [whatever you want]. Yes, quiet luxury is minimalism and harkens to the same code as normcore, but we’re not exactly hating the wealthy right now. We envy them for what [money] gives them… If we want it, of course, we’re going to emulate it. Thus, it becomes quiet luxury and no longer normcore. Because no one wants to be normal anymore.”
