Quiet luxury is the word—well, TikTok expression—on everyone’s lips. For designers this season, the concept has translated into two evergreen fashion buzzwords: streamlined and essential. For Michelle Ochs at Et Ochs, resort is less about the viral TikTok trend and more about what it has to say about our current mindset.
“Going into resort, I really wanted to make power silhouettes and beautiful pieces for that modern woman,” she said, evoking ’90s style oracles like Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and Gwyneth Paltrow in Great Expectations (1998). Their look, as Ochs describes it, was stripped down, beautiful, and all about “quality essentials”—the three boxes the designer looked to check with her new lineup.
With this lineup, the designer set out to give her client “a little bit more polish.” Utility details remained, but this time, in the shape of flowy silk cargos and straps hanging off waistbands and pockets. The idea of exposing garments’ inner construction returned too, with inside-out seams and darts applied to dressy skirts and slips. Power viscose tailoring expanded the daywear offering—a dynamically cut vest and its jumpsuit version were the most contemporary interpretations of Ochs’s source inspiration.
For a designer who has made it her signature to design close to the body, this collection sees Ochs expand her lexicon. Loose diagonal ruffles decorated her dresses, and simple blouses were elevated by deftly draped sheer chiffon overalls, which, together with her sheer slips, best captured the essence of what she’s after. (This is a good time to give Donna Karan’s enduring influence a shout-out.)
Folks may be hyper-focused on quiet luxury at the moment, but Ochs has the right idea taking the elements of the trend—ease, simplicity, sophistication—and incorporating them into her design verbiage. If anything, what’s worth taking away from Gen Z’s fascination with this affluent minimal look is that we’re witnessing their aesthetic evolve as they age. “She’s still fun, but it’s time to grow up,” Ochs said of her woman. “The world is making her grow up, and she has to get to work!”
