It’s also because in this uncertain post Brexit era where consumers are already being hit in the pocket, with prices for everything from craft beer to cars rising, understated luxury - or stealth wealth to give it, its new name - is a much more appropriate option than screaming logos and obvious branding.
The plane truth of the matter is that, in these tough, turbulent times, ostentation is it out - it's just not good taste given the world refugee crisis - and conspicuous consumption is in. Plus as Tomas Maier - creative director at Bottega Veneta - puts it: “People should always be in charge of their clothes. It shouldn’t be the clothes that are in charge of you.”
Maier’s Bottega Veneta, together with The Row and Céline are the brands we are coveting - specialising as they do in subtle labelling that makes it harder to gauge how much a garment really cost.
Or, as the hotelier Gordon Campbell Gray, once famously remarked: “The reality is, if you have wealth, you don't need glitz. You want understatement. It's got to be low key and it's got to be lovely.”
Let’s raise a (discreet) cheer to that…
