Forget quiet luxury: America’s wealthy 1% are adopting a bolder new approach

At this year’s New York Fashion Week events, attendees were starting to break from the mold of quiet luxury. The looks weren’t exclusively understated—bolder prints, luxe fabrics, and even fur pieces were spotted on and off the runway from top designers such as Michael Kors, Coach, and Carolina Herrera. This change in consumer tastes reflect a growing hunger for individuality.

“There are two tracks in this luxury trend: There’s a quiet version, there’s a loud version,” Chandler Mount, founder of Affluent Consumer Research Company, told Fortune.

America’s billionaires and corporate elite are getting bolder, which could be empowering the luxury shopping class to do the same. CEOs are stepping out of the shadows and into the limelight—a prime example being this year’s presidential inauguration, attended by tech leaders Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Tim Cook. It’s unusual for titans of industry to attend the event, let alone be seated in front of the incoming president’s chief staffers. Jeff Bezos’ wife Lauren Sánchez also made a splash by wearing a daring white bralette peeping from her low-cut pantsuit. 

CEOs once lead without drawing too much attention to themselves for the sake of their companies, but that is no longer the case. Billionaires are getting bolder, mirroring wealthy society’s growing desire for individuality and expression—especially in fashion. Sturdy, hand-dyed cotton shirts and satin skirts can get boring, just like making big business moves in the background.

Boldly stepping into the spotlight

Billionaires are no longer as inconspicuous as they once were.

Tech CEOs have become entertaining personalities that the public tunes into each week. The likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk all rose to prominence as unassuming, hoodie-wearing tech-bros. Now, they’ve leaned into high-flying, leather jacket-wearing, public-facing personas. 

Zuckerberg has hosted livestreams to chat with online users, is lobbying at the U.S. capitol, and trailed behind an MMA fighter walking into the sports area. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos lounges on his $500 million megayacht, fielded the public questions for who should star in his studio’s upcoming movie, and is photographed donning edgier looks alongside his manicured wife. The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is no exception to the trend. He towered above President Donald Trump giving press briefings in the White House, wielded a chainsaw at a conservative conference, and went onstage at Dave Chappelle’s comedy show. 

This behavior is a far cry from the likes of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Both tech leaders were billionaires and pioneers of industry, but didn’t radiate an energy of grandeur. They didn’t make grandiose public appearances, or tried to spur attention towards themselves. Oftentimes, the CEOs only stepped into the spotlight to promote and demo their products: like the iPhone, or Microsoft Windows software. They certainly weren’t being loud—and didn’t seem to crave that.

But a shift has taken place in corporate America and amongst the country’s 1%. Wealthy individuals are turning to bold expression. This trend is reflected in ways rich people are expressing status—and themselves.  

Luxury moving into loud expression: ‘The time has come’

Mirroring the attitudes of forward-facing billionaires, more people are moving away from inconspicuous styling to loud expression. 

“The time has come, and the next generation of luxury consumers is here. That 18 to 34-year-old consumer group is constantly redefining luxury, because they are the primary buyers of it,” Mount said. “They’re looking for more expression in what they’re wearing. They want people to learn something about them by what they wear.”

Quiet luxury initially rose as a style staple when many consumers were disillusioned with flashy branding and fast fashion—and it became the new “stealth” signifier of wealth. But the tables may have turned again, and people want to stand out; at this year’s New York Fashion week, fashion photographer and writer Simbarashe Cha noticed a turn in the tides of quiet luxury. 

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Cha noted that show-goers and models were rocking new trends: an abundance of fur coats, animal prints, exaggerated silhouettes, and layered textures. The looks were subversive to the navy and all-black styles people were donning just a couple years before. Cha said that fashion is turning loud again—and certainly, some boundaries are being broken.

John Rogers, a U.S. fashion designer who has styled the likes of Zendaya and Gigi Hadid, has also witnessed the shift. His clothing combines that quiet luxury timelessness and quality with rich color and patterns. Behind the scenes of his New York Fashion Week show this year, he spoke withBBC about divergence from the plainness of quiet luxury. 

“We want newness; we want transformation,” Rogers said. “But we have to be willing to try some fresh approaches. We have to make people excited to get dressed again, to use clothes as a tool for hope… Even if you’re just wearing them to go down the street for coffee.”