Is it Uniqlo or The Row? In 2024, the humble mall brand surged as luxury prices increased, marking a shift in what constitutes a dupe.
Last week in the office, I saw three colleagues wearing a version of the same outfit: charcoal jeans and a grey crewneck jumper. As the intrepid writer I am, I inquired about the fashion credits. Loro Piana? The Row? No, each jumper was from Uniqlo.
“It’s not quiet luxury, it’s silent luxury,” one of them joked (as in, “don’t tell anyone”). Except that they were all actually thrilled about wearing the same fit and to have discovered the same bargain (a cashmere sweater under $100), spreading the gospel of Uniqlo knitwear. The jeans, however, were from either The Row or Loewe, making it the perfect representation of high-low dressing.
This year, finding the look for less has become more of a flex, a sign of fashion scrappiness and cleverness that even the most particular enthusiasts are embracing. “I like to think I have the special skill of finding things that look way more luxurious than their price tag reflects,” wrote my colleague and Vogue fashion editor Mai Morsch, one of the three Uniqlo musketeers, in her under-$300 shopping guide. But does it count as a dupe? Morsch remarked that while she doesn’t “believe in dupes,” she certainly believes in finding wardrobe essentials that can sub for more expensive pieces.
And it’s true, we’re not talking about dupes in the sense of luxury handbag knock-offs. Instead, as average luxury prices continue their climb, we’re all now finding treasure troves in the hallowed halls of mid-market labels—Uniqlo, Gap, Banana Republic, J Crew, Cos—that trend-forward, style-minded people had, for the most part, dismissed over the past decade or so. Quality matters: the hunt for a luxury substitute always takes the material makeup into consideration, prioritising natural fibers as customers grow more informed and aware.
It’s not that everyone stopped shopping at…
