A sparkling chandelier, champagne in coupe glasses, Mach & Mach heels, rooftop cocktail bars, and flashy nighttime photographs.
Night Luxe is a modern manifestation of the extravagance of the Roaring Twenties. The More is More aesthetic is about indulging in luxury, leisure and living your best party-girl life after the sun goes down.
With over 20 million views on TikTok, the hashtags #nightluxe and #darkluxuryaesthetic feature photo posts and reels showing shots of fancy bars, restaurants and cocktails, i.e. martinis or champagne. With influences such as the glamour of the Great Gatsby, Studio 54, and the partying lifestyle of indie sleaze, Night Luxe’s popularity is no surprise. As we embark into a post-pandemic world, the lavish new aesthetic resonates with social media users who reminisce about hitting the town and dressing to the nines.
Trend chasers have identified a Vibe Shift for spring 2022. The growth of night luxe can be linked with the indulgent Vibe Shift concept that went viral after it was dissected in an article in The Cut, based on a report by trend forecasting Substack, 8Ball.
The article highlighted the revival of Indie Sleaze, a term heeding back to the hedonistic parties of the early 2000s. Sean Monahan, the trend forecaster quoted in The Cut, argues that ”the interest in opulence and the interest in transgression are in some ways just pent-up frustrations from the pandemic where people are like, I want to have fun.”
The rise of the new hedonistic It Girl aesthetic is the antithesis to the wellness-focused That Girl trope that has monopolised Instagram for years, also a trend on TikTok, with over 90 million views on the hashtag #CleanGirl. Wellness as we know it is disappearing; seeing that the night luxe aesthetic has taken over tells us a great deal about the state of wellness and our relationship with it, showing a rejection of the discipline that comes with Clean Girl culture.
Consequently, it’s also seeping into the beauty space, where new brands such as 4AM Skincare and Youthforia are advertising products by promoting less disciplined healthy lifestyles. The trend overlaps the backlash wellness has received in popular culture as influencers have taken to TikTok to call the That Girl trend harmful and toxic. Beyond its niche as a rejection of everything burnout, Night Luxe is mainly about an escape from reality. It is aesthetic about romanticising the nightlife denied during the pandemic and a new way of quoting wealth and decadence.
There is a need for endless new content in the age of the fast-paced and ever-evolving Gen Z. TikTok has established itself as a central forecaster in the last two years, determining which fashion trends will remain or disappear. It has brought us plenty of aesthetics over the past few years, from Cottage-Core to Twee and Goblin Mode. With a booming community of fashion influencers, celebrities and everyday creators, TikTok’s impact on the fashion industry is undeniable as it gives users a space to empower self-confidence and find their individual styles.