The Rise of Old Money Style: How Celebrities Embrace the Classic Fashion Trend

As the ‘old money’ trend emerges this year, the quiet luxury style dominates the fashion industry. ‘Old money’ refers to wealth passed down through generations. Moreover, the style is associated with the fashion of the upper class, often characterized by significant assets. To embody this aesthetic, it’s essential to create a luxurious, sophisticated, and well-maintained look. The key lies in crafting a clean silhouette, using natural colors, and selecting high-quality fabrics. While this style steers clear of flashy and shiny elements, it exudes an overwhelming atmosphere of quiet, calm elegance. In important situations, the old money look truly stands out.

What is the Old Money Fashion Aesthetic?

The “Old Money Fashion Aesthetic” style has gained significant attention across various social media platforms and media publications. People commonly associate the style with phrases like “quiet luxury,” “stealth wealth,” and “old money dressing.” This fashion trend focuses on how wealth and affluence are subtly expressed through clothing choices.

Central to the old money aesthetic is dressing that suggests wealth has been inherited rather than earned.. This style favors quality over quantity, timeless pieces over trendy items, and understated elegance over flashy displays of wealth. Clothing and accessories in this aesthetic often feature classic designs, neutral colors, and high-quality materials.

The increasing popularity of this aesthetic is partly due to the influence of television shows like “Succession,” where characters exhibit wealth through their wardrobe choices. This phenomenon is part of the chameleon effect, where individuals subconsciously mimic those they admire, particularly on-screen figures.

Additionally, what signifies wealth in fashion has historically shifted in response to changes in pop culture, political movements, and trends in the fashion industry. Therefore, the old money fashion aesthetic is more than a style. This style emphasizes a discreet display of wealth, aligning with the idea of “quiet luxury,” where the value lies more in the quality and heritage of the items than in overt branding or trendy designs.

Old Money Fashion Rise

China’s fashion scene is shifting from the vibrant “dopamine look” of early post-pandemic days to more subdued styles. There’s a growing fondness for timeless designs, calming colors, and traditional crafts. This change is reflected in the popularity of two trends: the Maillard reaction (美拉德反应) and Chinese old money (中式老钱风). These trends, flourishing on social media, emphasize neutral colors and heritage-inspired clothing, moving away from the previously dominant bold and energetic styles.

The hashtag #MaillardStyle (美拉德穿搭) has amassed over 1.6 billion views on Douyin and 400 million on Xiaohongshu, indicating its widespread acceptance. Max Mara, renowned for its brown and beige essentials, has embraced the Maillard aesthetic. The brand collaborated with Butterful & Creamorous, a premium Chinese bakery, on a promotional campaign featuring butter croissants and caramel lattes in branded gift bags. Maybelline also tapped into this trend with a Maillard-inspired campaign in Shanghai, involving local cafés to promote a new latte shade lipstick. This pivot in fashion underscores a broader cultural shift towards a more understated and culturally connected style in China.

“The main colors of this viral Maillard trend are brown and beige, and these are colors to convey stabilizing, cocooning effects. I think the Maillard trend in China now is different than the generic neutral-tone wear that we see every season, as it often combines dark colors with fun highlights and warm textures.”
– Xiaojing Yang, founder of trend research firm Yang Design, via Jing Daily.