The best quiet luxury brands for men are Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli, Zegna, Brioni and Kiton, with Canali, Luca Faloni, Sunspel and John Smedley offering similar restraint for less, and Asket and Uniqlo covering affordable basics.
Menswear is where quiet luxury began long before it had a name. The Italian houses at the top of this list are mostly mills and tailoring workshops first: Zegna has woven cloth in Trivero since 1910, Loro Piana in Quarona since 1924. In our database, 9 of 40 brands are Italian — and in menswear the proportion is higher still.
The core men’s quiet luxury wardrobe is short: a navy or grey unstructured jacket, grey flannel trousers, a few cashmere or merino knits, an overcoat, white and blue shirts, a polo, suede loafers. What separates the brands below is cloth, construction and price.
Which brands lead men’s quiet luxury?
Valextra
Valextra is a Milanese leather goods house founded in 1937 by Giovanni Fontana, known for logo-free bags with a signature black-lacquered edge, including the Iside.
The Row
The Row is a New York fashion house founded in 2006 by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, known for logo-free, precisely cut clothing and leather goods that have become the reference point for quiet luxury.
Brioni
Brioni is a Roman menswear house founded in 1945 by tailor Nazareno Fonticoli and entrepreneur Gaetano Savini, known for handmade suits produced in Penne, Abruzzo.
Moynat
Moynat is a Parisian trunk-maker and leather goods house founded in 1849 by Pauline Moynat, revived in 2011, known for the Réjane bag and discreet craftsmanship.
Kiton
Kiton is a Neapolitan tailoring house founded in 1968 by Ciro Paone, known for soft-shouldered, extensively hand-sewn jackets and some of the most expensive ready-to-wear suits in the world.
Brunello Cucinelli
Brunello Cucinelli is an Italian luxury brand founded in 1978 in Umbria, headquartered in the medieval hamlet of Solomeo, and known for dyed cashmere knitwear and relaxed, earth-toned tailoring.
Gabriela Hearst
Gabriela Hearst is a New York luxury label founded in 2015 by the Uruguayan-born designer of the same name, known for cashmere, tailoring and the Nina bag, with a strong focus on sustainable sourcing.
Loro Piana
Loro Piana is an Italian luxury house founded in 1924 in Quarona, Piedmont, that began as a fabric mill and is best known for the world’s finest cashmere, baby cashmere and vicuña.
Hermès
Hermès is a French luxury house founded in Paris in 1837 by Thierry Hermès as a harness maker, now best known for the Birkin and Kelly bags, silk scarves and leather craftsmanship.
Zegna
Zegna is an Italian menswear house founded in 1910 by Ermenegildo Zegna as a wool mill in Trivero, Piedmont, known for its own fabrics, Oasi Cashmere and modern tailoring.
Bottega Veneta
Bottega Veneta is an Italian luxury house founded in Vicenza in 1966, known for intrecciato woven leather and for a 1970s slogan that sums up quiet luxury: “When your own initials are enough.”
Which brands offer the look for less?
Auralee
Auralee is a Tokyo label founded in 2015 by Ryota Iwai, known for developing its own fabrics and yarns and for soft, muted clothing that feels luxurious rather than looks it.
Lemaire
Lemaire is a Paris fashion label founded by Christophe Lemaire and co-directed with Sarah-Linh Tran, known for soft, utilitarian clothing in muted colours and the croissant bag.
Margaret Howell
Margaret Howell is a London clothing label that began in 1970 with men’s shirts, known for British-made, utilitarian clothing in natural fabrics.
Canali
Canali is a family-owned Italian menswear company founded in 1934, known for Italian-made tailoring that sits a tier below the Roman and Neapolitan houses on price.
Jil Sander
Jil Sander is a German fashion house founded in Hamburg in 1968 by Jil Sander, known for architectural minimalism, precise tailoring and clean leather goods.
Celine
Celine is a French fashion house founded in 1945 by Céline Vipiana, closely associated with quiet luxury through Phoebe Philo’s tenure as creative director from 2008 to 2018.
Sunspel
Sunspel is a British clothing company founded in 1860 by Thomas Hill in Nottingham, known for the Riviera polo shirt and some of the best plain T-shirts made.
John Smedley
John Smedley is a British knitwear manufacturer founded in 1784 at Lea Mills in Derbyshire, one of the oldest manufacturing companies in the world, known for fine-gauge merino and Sea Island cotton knits.
Luca Faloni
Luca Faloni is a London-based brand founded in 2014 that sells Italian-made cashmere, linen and cotton staples directly to customers, cutting out wholesale markups.
Studio Nicholson
Studio Nicholson is a London label founded in 2010 by Nick Wakeman, known for generously cut trousers, precise proportions and fabrics sourced from Japanese and Italian mills.
Theory
Theory is a New York contemporary fashion brand founded in 1997 by Andrew Rosen and Elie Tahari, owned by Fast Retailing, and known for minimalist workwear and stretch-wool tailoring.
Vince
Vince is a Los Angeles brand founded in 2002, known for relaxed, Californian minimalism: cashmere sweaters, slip skirts and soft basics in neutral colours.
What are the best affordable options for men?
Asket
Asket is a Stockholm brand founded in 2015 that sells a permanent, seasonless collection of essentials with full traceability of materials and factories.
Naadam
Naadam is a New York cashmere brand founded in 2013 by Matt Scanlan and Diederik Rijsemus that buys fibre directly from herders in Mongolia and sells cashmere knitwear direct to consumers.
COS
COS (Collection of Style) is a London-based brand launched by H&M Group in 2007, known for architectural minimalism and modern basics at high-street prices.
Arket
Arket is a Scandinavian brand launched by H&M Group in 2017, selling durable, practical basics in natural fabrics with a muted Nordic palette.
Massimo Dutti
Massimo Dutti is a Spanish fashion brand founded in Barcelona in 1985 and owned by Inditex, known for classic, polished clothing in neutral tones at high-street prices.
Uniqlo
Uniqlo is a Japanese clothing retailer owned by Fast Retailing, known for technical fabrics and for affordable cashmere, merino and Supima cotton basics.
Everlane
Everlane is a San Francisco brand founded in 2010 by Michael Preysman, known for “radical transparency” about costs and factories and for affordable minimalist basics.
Quince
Quince is a San Francisco direct-to-consumer brand founded in 2018 that sells Mongolian cashmere, silk and leather basics at very low prices by shipping directly from factories.
How should men dress quiet luxury?
- Fit first. An inexpensive jacket that fits beats an expensive one that doesn’t.
- Texture over colour. Flannel, suede, cashmere, linen — stay tonal and let fabric add interest.
- Soft construction. Unstructured jackets and knit polos are the modern quiet luxury uniform.
- Shoes matter. Suede loafers and clean leather sneakers do more than any accessory.
- No visible branding. Including on belts, sneakers and watches.
Looking for the heritage version of the look? See old money brands.
Frequently asked questions
What is quiet luxury for men?
Quiet luxury for men means logo-free clothing in exceptional fabrics — cashmere knitwear, soft-shouldered tailoring, suede loafers, fine cotton shirts — where quality is visible in the cloth and fit rather than branding.
What are the best quiet luxury brands for men?
Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli, Zegna, Brioni and Kiton lead the category. Canali, Luca Faloni, Sunspel and John Smedley offer excellent quality for less, while Asket and Uniqlo cover affordable basics.
What shoes are quiet luxury for men?
Unbranded suede loafers (such as the Loro Piana Summer Walk), plain leather penny loafers, minimalist leather sneakers and chelsea boots are the core quiet luxury shoes for men.