Luxury Through a Diasporic Lens
Luxury Through a Diasporic Lens
If the first language of luxury was French, then the second is now being rewritten in a lingua franca, Xosa, Portuguese or inscribed in tribal colloquialism. What once was a monolith is now a mosaic, embroidered with global memory and textured by lived experience.
Luxury in 2025 is no longer purely confined to couture houses or polished marble foyers. It radiates from the terracotta glow of the Global South, the cultural rhythms of the diaspora, and the quiet confidence of Black designers who are no longer guests in the room, but the ones rebuilding it.
In fashion and interiors alike, a shift is underway. Walk into the woven warmth of The NoMad, the Saharan plastered textures of The Mandrake, or the sun-kissed minimalism of Soho House Stockholm and you’ll find that Eurocentric refinement is no longer white marble to minimalist Nordic restraint. It’s being infused with the hues of home: clay, brass, linen, carved wood, and woven light. These spaces don’t just look good, they feel familiar, because they remember where we’ve been.
Fashion follows suit.
One Thursday evening in Notting Hill’s romantic mews, I became the wearer - first, of a Paul & Joe elasticated dress adorned with a Grecian motif, then of a two-piece jumpsuit paired with a delicate ruffle collared blouse, I became the wearer. The clothes weren’t simply worn, they were redefined. From my own collaboration with Paul & Joe, I saw firsthand how traditionally Scandinavian tailoring could be softened, livened and warmed by brown skin, elevated even, with a touch of bold print, textured accessories, or heritage-informed styling. These silhouettes, once imagined for a different kind of wearer, find new life when reimagined through diasporic eyes. The contrast doesn’t compete, it clarifies it with a level of distinction and class that would otherwise be difficult to pursue.
Designs rooted in cool minimalism find depth when paired with a gold bangle from Accra or a headwrap sourced in Brixton. Wales Bonner translates Caribbean mysticism into the quietest of tailoring. Creatives like Ibrahim Kamara and James Jeter are reinterpreting legacy brands from within, blending historical codes with diasporic energy and afro-western heritage. Jeter’s work with Ralph Lauren doesn’t disrupt the brand’s DNA it remixes it, giving the American dream a global bassline.
But this isn’t new.
Recently inbetween the press releases and deck building, I went through a discovery of my origins where I found that whilst the majority of my DNA can be traced to West Africa, that my ancestors also went through a journey, known as the transatlantic slave trade throughout the deep south of the United States between 1700 to 1975. So it turns out that the generational family stories passed down were true.
This discovery stood as a confirmation that the photos of my paternal grandparents' style choices had begun a subconscious influence in my sense of style from a young age, as it resonated with me and my lifestyle in the UK on a deeper level. Not to mention the records pointing to my grandparents on both sides journey to the UK in the 1940’s and late 1950’s. Well-to-do African-Americans and those who escaped slavery in the late 1900’s, much like my own grandparents, began to redefine luxury under restriction, creating elegance from what was available, reclaiming suits, fedoras, and fine tailoring as tools of self-respect and resistance.
Intentional luxury, at its best, channels that same spirit: expressive, intentional, and rooted in legacy. It’s not performative - it’s personal. It’s worn and it’s chosen.
It’s a linen Paul & Joe suit against cocoa-toned skin. A Hermès coat wrapped over a kente-inspired midi. The scent of vetiver and honeyed oud, with hints of dior curling through a Belgravia townhouse. A structured bag that holds both Bobbie Brown lipstick and libation, fostering memory in motion.
The new tastemaker is fluent in contrast. She wears her heritage as easily as her Loewe loafers. She drifts from Mayfair to Marrakech, Paris to Brixton, without needing to translate. She doesn’t chase legacy, she becomes it. This is what underscores the consumption of luxury, the ability to move effortlessly between styles without feeling the need to fit into one “aesthetic”, “core” or be coded. Owning your image with an earnest presence rather than one that has been manufactured by a machine of retail and influencer osmosis.
The world is now turning to more sustainable choices, and in the words of Vivienne Westwood to “Buy Less, choose well, make it last” is being viewed as the future of the buying experience.
Teréne celebrates this co-existence. The contrast. The curation. The quiet power and the recurring thought that to dress with memory is to never fall stagnant to the guise of one story.
With love,
Terena