Quiet luxury is over. Boom Boom is all about being loud.
Why the office-friendly blend of “Office Siren,” “Old Money,” and “Mob Wife” is making such an impact in culture
In this Thursday’s email we’re:
Putting a name to the latest aesthetic trend taking over our feeds
In the full edition, available for paying members, we zero in on:
3 reasons behind why the Boom Boom aesthetic is resonating so hard
Boom Boom: The aesthetic for a workforce in flux
TL;DR: This year's Met Gala theme celebrated Black designers and menswear, aligning with the rising "Boom Boom" aesthetic—an office-friendly blend of “Office Siren,” “Old Money,” and “Mob Wife” styles that's already been trending online. Today, we’re breaking down how brands are activating against this trend and why it resonates with audiences.
Earlier this month, social media took part in its annual tradition of judging how well celebrities can dress for a themed party aka The Met Gala. Say what you will about the decline of the publishing landscape but Anna Wintour is still good at her job and the Met Gala theme is always culturally on point. This year, the theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” centered on menswear and Black designers with the dress code “Tailored for You.” But Anna is a bit behind the internet on this one. Online people have been talking about this menswear forward aesthetic for a while and calling it Boom Boom.
Coined by Sean Monahan the term “Boom Boom” has come to be accepted as the more office-appropriate merger and rebrand of the “Office Siren” “Old Money” and “Mob Wife” aesthetics.
Boom Boom mood board:
Related emojis: 🍸🫒💼💻📱✒️🚕🌃👩💻💸
Mob Wife, Old Money, Quiet Luxury, Corp Core, Boom Boom… whatever we want to call it, I think this aesthetic’s rise is tapping into the idea of the “the workplace” as an outdated (masculine) fantasy. New York iconically represents American industry and economy so it’s deeply entwined in this aesthetic as well.
Luxury brands aimed at the corporate workforce are tapping this aesthetic
Brands like Favorite Daughter, That’s so Armani, Saint Laurent & Veronica Beard are nailing this aesthetic not just in their designs but their marketing and presentation of the associated lifestyle.
According to a recent report from the menswear retailer Mr Porter, searches for “workwear” on its website increased by 50 percent in the past year. Many Gen-Zers and millennials never had to dress up at work, let alone go to an actual office. They may be financially left out of adulthood, but they can at least look the part.
–Emilia Petrarc for The Cut
The aesthetic mirrors the themes culture is contemplating in media
Boom boom is glamour and greed, epitomised by a style and mindset reminiscent of the sleazy, money-saturated world of late 80s New York. There is an end-of-empire, end-of-history nihilism to it, a sense of raising another bottle of Moët into the air while the world burns around you. But it’s also about aspiration, panic and the jarring disconnection between the economic climate we want and the one that exists – an experience shared by most.
–Morwenna Ferrier for the Guardian
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Entrepreneurial female creators are using it to convey power
This aesthetic is also being leveraged by New York City influencers who are “leaning in” to the girlboss narrative but avoiding the millennial feminism of it all. Instead, they’re adopting the traditional masculine power codes to convey their aspirational success.
If you have money, you want to look like it, and that's what the boom boom aesthetic offers. This aesthetic is the opposite of quiet luxury, shouting your seven-figure income from the top of a rooftop bar with a fur coat on.
–Christianna Silva for Mashable
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In the paid portion of this email, we identify 3 cultural insights behind WHY the Boom Boom aesthetic is resonating with audiences along with additional resources for continued reading.
Not to mention, the next time workwear, fast fashion, and rumors of the lifestyle creator mecca moving from LA back to New York comes up in a meeting, here’s what you should say…
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