Low-key luxury brands are becoming more popular as consumers seek understated wealth. These brands offer discreet logos or no logos, unique materials and craftsmanship. Popular low-key luxury brands include Shang Xia, Maison Martin Margiela, and Erdem. Consumers now want authenticity over overt displays of wealth after the economic crisis. They also want niche brands that seem to offer more value and character as luxury becomes commoditized. Understatement has become the new standard for luxury fashion statements.

1. WHY LOW-KEY LUXURY IS TAKING OVER
THE WORLD?
AUGUST 2013

2. What is low-key luxury ?
Profile of low-key luxury
 Discreet logo or no logo at all
 Unique luxury quality (coveted materials, delicate processes)
 Confidential brands thriving on word-of-mouth
It can be niche brands or selected line of items that are less eye-catching than
the rest of the brand offer

3. What is low-key luxury ?
Shang Xia
Maison Martin Margiela
Jacques Britt
Erdem
Marni

4. Why low-key luxury is becoming the norm ?
I. Fashion is in a state of perpetual renewal :
After the whole extravaganza of the ‘bling-bling’ trend, it is time to keep a
low profile
Goldvish cell phone
Absolut Bling Bling
‘Celebration’, Madonna
Lady Million , Paco Rabanne, 2010

5. Why low-key luxury is becoming the norm ?
II. Because of the economic crisis, customers now want to prove they are
discerning rather than just rich.
 They do not trade down to lower-price brands and stores, they limit the
volume they purchase
 There is a quest for meaning beyond labels. Consumers want authenticity
as proved by the success of Shan Xia
Shang Xia collection

6. Why low-key luxury is becoming the norm ?
III. As luxury is becoming commoditized, consumers are looking for ‘niche
brands’ which seem to offer more value & character
 Luxury brands themselves have contributed to this commoditization with
their diffusion brands to reach broader targets

7. Why low-key luxury is becoming the norm ?
III. As luxury is becoming commoditized, consumers are looking for ‘niche
brands’ which seem to offer more value & character
 Fast fashion & retailers like H&M have made catwalk looks affordable to
the mass-market
Campaign 2013, Zara

8. ILLUSTRATIONS OF LOW-KEY
LUXURY

9. From Mass luxury
to Exclusive luxury
Versace
Maison Martin Margiela
Louis Vuitton
Bottega Veneta
Rolex
Patek Philippe
J’adore, Dior
Santa Maria Novella

10. Growing importance of Bespoke
May it be tailor-made, customization, made-to-measure, demi-couture or
personalization, Bespoke is one of the way to indulge yourself keeping a low
profile
•
In London, orders taken in 2010 by the 14 tailors of Savile Row Bespoke
have increased by 10% compared to 2009
• Aston Martin recently announced that one major factor driving expansion
at its Newport Pagnell factory headquarters is an extension of its Works
Tailored department (personalization division)

11. Logofication is out
If logos were great boosters for luxury brands these past years, they are
now more synonymous for mass luxury than exclusive luxury
Louis Vuitton aims at reducing
the visibility of its famous
Monogram fabric to promote
models such as Capucine

12. Logofication is out
It also explains the success of Prada in China with its 8% increase in net profit
for the first six months of 2013
Prada F/W 2013 collection

13. Sophistication is in
As customers seek novelty and understatement in luxury, they turn to more
sophisticated brands. They become connoisseurs.
More and more brands are adapting their speech to flatter these new
experts.
Grenson website
Harris Tweed label
Mulberry website
Vacheron Constantin new mobile app

14. In a nutshell
To make a fashion statement, the golden rule is now UNDERSTATEMENT
 Affluent customers are looking for new ways to stand out from the
crowd, low-key luxury is the answer for them
 Low-key luxury customers want to be in the Know, not in the Show
anymore
 Proving that you know what luxury is without claiming it with labels &
logos, that is the ultimate luxury experience
 Next buzz word is ‘Stealth Wealth’