Quiet Luxury to the Left: Every Chic Person Is Wearing This Summer Aesthetic Instead
Without fail, you'll find that summertime sweeps us all up into a sort of collective fervor. It's not so much that the heat has us stirring with excitement (although, that's a small part of it) as much as the season itself always manages to be filled with new trends, music, and films that end up collectively ushering in a fresh summer aesthetic. Although some might argue that the cultural phenomenon of having a singular trending aesthetic or sound in the summer no longer exists, we've seen the fashion world turn this notion on its head in recent years. In a time when algorithms are slowly pushing us into our own corners of the internet, fashion designers have continued to foster a sense of collective culture by tapping into pockets of pop culture through their clothing—e.g., sportswear has remained a trend on the runway. Its prodigal return coincided with the box-office popularity of the film Challengers and rise in Formula One fandom.
Beyond drawing inspiration from the court, we've seen recent runway shows also pull from other unexpected sources, thereby kick-starting more "controversial" summer aesthetics that have ended up creating collective outrage or acclaim. Case in point: Indie sleaze's contentious return inspired by the Billboard-charting album Brat by Charli XCX, or the collective obsession with the quiet luxury aesthetic, which was driven primarily by deeper psychological fears around a looming recession (plus the success of the television series Succession). Love them or hate them, these summer aesthetics have acted as a counterbalance to cultural critics' concerns that there's no singular monoculture that we can reference as a connective touchpoint. We can thank runway collections for that, as they've remained one of the easiest ways to get a read on what cultural conversations are dominating the forefront of fashion and beyond.
Nothing is more indicative of that than the one specific summer trend that's set to become the summer aesthetic for 2025: coastal boho. Before you gawk, let us explain. No other aesthetic quite captures what's happening currently in the world than this summer trend; don't worry, we've got the receipts to back up our claim. Ahead, we're breaking down what the coastal boho aesthetic says about current culture, sharing examples of the summer trend on the runway and in real life, and showcasing the key pieces you'd need to tap into the phenomenon. Prepare to be swept up into the tidal wave, or, in this case, the coastal boho trend.
Coastal Boho On the Runway
Although there are some direct visual parallels to the prep-inspired movements that have permeated recent runway collections, the coastal boho trend marks a pivot away from the more blatantly obvious displays of wealth that defined the not-so-quiet luxury movement. It's less country-club coded; the chunky cable knits, polos, and pleated skirts have been pushed to the side in favor of a softer, romantic, almost-frothy approach to looking like you own a house in Nantucket (without actually trying so hard). The contemporary take on coastal boho acts as a cross between minimalism and bohemian influences; its most adept reflection can be found in Chemena Kamali's debut S/S 25 runway show. Chloé's collection was imbued with the type of romanticism that feels almost relegated to the summertime: It's the essence of falling in love or, at the very least, spending time frolicking by the sea.
The free-loving spirit that defined so many of the previous boho fashion movements was reflected through the collection's silhouettes in the form of the billowing dresses, lace-bodice camisoles, bell-bottom jeans, crochet bikinis, and bubble-hem skirts. But it wasn't just the apparel that sold this sort of idyllic fantasy of falling in love by the sea, as the runway looks were styled with all the "cliché" summer accessories: beach bags, oversize sunglasses, shell jewelry, chain belts, and jelly sandals. While Chloé's collection acted as a sort of permission slip to fantasize about having a summer house in the Hamptons (again), other design houses reined the trend back into reality. With Ralph Lauren's and Zimmerman's S/S 25 collections, there's an overwhelming sense that you don't necessarily need to have a trip to the South of France booked, nor do you need to be the protagonist in the Amazon series The Summer I Turned Pretty in order to tap into this trend.
It's pretty easy to imagine a scenario in which you could easily be spotted on a sweltering hot day in the city wearing a white scalloped crop top with low-slung trousers, layered belts, and oversize tinted lenses (refer to Zimmerman's show). Similarly, you could find yourself throwing on a light tan leather coat over a crochet bralette with a white maxi skirt and espadrilles to go to the farmers market in a way that resembles Ralph Lauren's runway look. Ultimately, these collections have shown that tapping into the fantasy of spending one's entire summer by the sea can be one's lived experience, or at the very least, an escape from one's present reality. Coastal boho allows us to dip our toes into waters, or levels of wealth, we may never be able to reach fully. Hence the appeal. It's no wonder, then, that we've already seen fashion people flock to this trend like seagulls to fresh scallops.
Coastal Boho In the Wild
We've seen the coastal boho trend splash off the runway and into real life through the style set's quick adoption of the trend. While there are plenty of ways to embrace this trend, one of the easiest ways we've seen it embraced is through matching crochet sets (ideally in neutrals) paired with oversize raffia tote bags, chunky cuffs, flip-flops, and wire-frame glasses.
