Michael Lo Sordo on the Key to Quiet Luxury Dressing

You’ve probably heard of the trend ‘quiet luxury‘. It’s been mentioned everywhere in fashion media.

Though it isn’t a new style of dressing, the name itself was only coined in April, thanks to the looks Gwyneth Paltrow served at her ski crash trial, the outfits Sarah Snook’s character Shiv Roy wore on ‘Succession’ and the cleaned-up, glow-up Sofia Richie Grainge showcased for her wedding in the south of France.

Simply put, it’s new-age minimalism. The trend, often also referred to as ‘stealth wealth’, focuses on investment pieces and more conscious shopping habits, with a result of oozing wealth, rather than screaming it with loud logos.

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“The benefit of quiet luxury fashion is that it’s all about investment dressing, so you’ll be able to wear the pieces again and again,” says Australian designer Michael Lo Sordo. “Quiet luxury is timeless clothes and key accessories.”

Lo Sordo also says that though quiet luxury is about classic cuts of clothing, you can still add a fresh feel through fabrics and embellishments, which he did for his latest collection, Nocturne, for resort ’23, shown at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week this week.

“I created a fabulous black lace dress, in partnership with Hendrick’s Gin” he said. “The Hendrick’s dress is made from the finest lace and incorporates a gorgeous diamond seam detail. It is this attention to manufacturing and the choice of fabrics that, to me, screams quiet luxury.”

The collection, as a whole, taps into the quiet luxury trend, with the use of fabrics like velvet, lace, drapery and silk. Lo Sordo says it was inspired by the cultural richness of French nightclubs in the 1920s. “I also focused on the cut and design of my much-loved gowns, reimaging them in sheer lace,” he says.

As for what everyone gets wrong about quiet luxury dressing? “They over accessorise,” says Lo Sordo. “Quiet luxury is about quality, timeless pieces, styled together impeccably.”