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.

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