There’s a certain kind of woman who wears a calf-length skirt that doesn’t cling, an oversized shirt that looks like it costs a month’s rent, and flats that are always sold out. In all likelihood, she’s wearing <a href="https://thenodmag.com/content/the-row-cult-fashion-brand">The Row</a>.Minimal, obsessively considered, and ridiculously expensive, The Row is the quietest kind of luxury—clothes that don’t beg for attention but command it anyway. So highly coveted (just ask <a href="https://thenodmag.com/content/the-row-collector-neelam-ahooja-style-profile">Neelam Ahooja</a>) that, naturally, the internet has responded the way it always does: with dupes. <a href="https://thenodmag.com/tag/social-media">Social media</a> is flooded with ‘looks like The Row’ hauls and ads for literal ‘dupes’, which usually come for a fraction of the price, are crafted in not-the-best materials, and turn out to be deeply unconvincing. Dupe culture has blurred the line between inspired by and copied poorly—which is where this list comes in.The brands below don’t churn out fast-fashion replicas. They live in the same universe as The Row—refined silhouettes, muted palettes, and pieces that feel intentional—but without the four-digit price tag. There are, of course, brands like Lemaire, Toteme, Khaite, Auralee, and Tove that make beautiful minimal clothing in the same world but are still a stretch unless you’re stalking the sales or resale sites compulsively.The slightly more affordable ones we’re talking about? They understand proportion. They respect a good collar. They believe cream, navy, black, and the occasional pop of colour can make a complete wardrobe. Some are well-known mall mainstays, some are quietly cult, but all of them deliver design and quality without breaking the bank. Whether you’re a price-conscious conspicuous consumer or are just on the hunt for some quality basics, below are the brands that do it well. The best part? Most of them are on sale at the moment. Happy considerate shopping!

Founded in 2021 by Marieke Meulendijks and Maickel Weyers in <a href="https://thenodmag.com/content/diipa-khosla-buller-travel-guide-amsterdam">Amsterdam</a>, Róhe does modern tailoring with an edge—clean lines, sharp trousers, strong shoulders—but it never feels try-hard. The vibe is minimalist but not sterile; think textural knits, crisp suiting, and structured pieces with just enough drape. Basically, very wearable minimalism for people with Pinterest boards full of beige couches and sculptural ceramics.

Róhe

Formerly known as Loulou Studio, the Parisian label was founded by stylist turned designer Chloé Harrouche in 2019 and specialises in the sort of tailoring that makes you look instantly “done” even in just a blazer and jeans. The jackets are slouchy but sharp, the trousers hit just right, and the cashmere knits are quietly luxe.

Loulou de Saison

This well-known <a href="https://thenodmag.com/content/copenhagen-travel-itinerary-akanksha-deo-sharma">Copenhagen</a>-based brand leans into soft tailoring, roomy knits, and tonal dressing. The aesthetic is pared-back but far from boring. Great for statement long-line coats that don’t cost an arm and a leg, oversized sweaters, and just-right trousers. If you want to dress like someone who makes their own sourdough but also owns a Céline candle, this is it.

By Malene Birger

Designed for people who notice good trousers, London-based Studio Nicholson focuses on elevated basics that are more about silhouette than trend—think voluminous pants, crisp shirting, and layering pieces that behave beautifully. It’s for the person who considers “baggy” and “structured” to be compliments in the same sentence. The label has been around since 2010 but launched its line of bags last year, which come in leather, suede, and nylon (very The Row-coded).

Studio Nicholson

Founded in 2021 by Arunima Vig, this homegrown label offers sensibly cut foundational pieces in wool, silk, and supple vegan leather. Think straight-cut coats, tops with a bit of an edge, and fluid shapes—with just enough structure to feel grownup. The colour palette sticks to black, cream, and stone. It’s not trying to be trend-proof; it just is. If you’ve ever wished for a version of The Row that lives in New Delhi and actually makes sense for your climate, Ura comes close.

St Agni began as a shoe label in 2014 by Lara and Matt Fells in Byron Bay, Australia—and you can still see those beachside roots in its easy approach to tailoring. Think slouchy blazers, racer-stripe pants, sheer knits, and minimalist leather pieces that feel like you’re bringing a taste of Paris to coastal Australia.

St Agni

I discovered Comme Si only recently after Dakota Johnson’s character in <a href="https://thenodmag.com/content/work-tote-hereu-materialists-dakota-johnson-style">Materialists</a> wore the brand’s famous socks. While it is technically a loungewear brand, it also offers crisp, oversized shirting and shirt dresses that look great worn by themselves or with pants, crafted with fabrics you would see in suiting. They also have the most beautiful silk boxers. If you’re someone who works from home a lot, or wants to feel good while doing nothing, this is your brand.

Comme Si

One of Scandinavia’s OG minimalist brands (and another that made a cameo on Dakota Johnson in&nbsp; Materialists), Filippa K has been quietly perfecting the art of restraint since 1993. The pieces are soft but structured; the colours are timeless; and the tailoring has just enough slouch to feel effortless.

Filippa K

It’s owned by H&amp;M group, but don’t let that scare you: COS operates in its own sleek little bubble. Like The Row, it leans a bit boyish—boxy cuts, crisp poplin, sensible dresses. The tees hold their shape even after years of wear, and the trousers drape just right. It’s where every stylist secretly shops for excellent quality basics, including great leather flats. You’re welcome.

Arguably Inditex’s sexiest brand, Massimo Dutti excels at draped dresses, soft tailoring, and oversized shirting with an understated elegance that skews classic over trendy. It’s not strictly minimalist or as design-forward as some of the others on the list, but if you like your wardrobe neutral, draped, and just a little more European or Mediterranean in vibe, it delivers. Very solid for leather accessories and shoes, too.

Massimo Dutti

Another Australian favourite known for its linen tailoring and matching waistcoat sets, Dissh hits the sweet spot between effortless and put-together. Ideal for people who live in separates and pieces that look far more expensive than they are. A warning: sizing isn’t always consistent, but when it fits, it really fits. Bonus: it’s one of the few labels on this list where a full look won’t cost more than a bougie dinner for two.

Dissh

Before you roll your eyes or scoff, consider the basics: the tailoring on their trousers, the +J collaboration archives (the ones who remember, remember), the perfect boxy white tee. Uniqlo regularly delivers the kind of foundational pieces that make an entire outfit feel intentional, and with Clare Waight Keller’s Uniqlo: C line, it carries the minimalist torch forward. It doesn’t pretend to be luxury—it just nails the basics better than anyone else at its price point.

Uniqlo

Models showcasing Róhe pre-fall 2025 | The Nod's minimalist accessible and affordable luxury brands

Rohe pre-fall 2025_The Nod Minimalist luxury brands

12 minimalist brands that look like The Row (but cost way less)

“The first time I saw the Salpa Margaux, I knew it was mine,” says Neelam Ahooja, the Toronto-based stylist and influencer. <a href="https://thenodmag.com/content/the-row-cult-fashion-brand">The Row</a>’s topstitched, <a href="https://thenodmag.com/content/tanner-leatherstein-influencer-dissecting-luxury-handbags">deconstructed handbag</a>, with its fraying threads and exposed seams, mirrors something deeply personal: a life that’s polished, yes, but also deeply textured.Ahooja, now 54 and a well-respected voice in the niche world of luxury minimalism, didn’t start out in fashion. In fact, she was once a chartered accountant. But today, she’s better known as a collector, curator, and community-builder—someone whose reverence for The Row borders on the devotional.After leaving finance to raise her children over two decades ago, she found herself returning to style through an unexpected medium: <a href="https://thenodmag.com/tag/instagram">Instagram</a>. In late 2020, she began documenting her collection of The Row, sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s label she had admired since its launch in 2006. What started as a personal archive quickly grew into a following—and a second act that involves documenting the Olsen twins’ elusive label across Instagram, <a href="https://thenodmag.com/tag/tiktok">TikTok</a>, YouTube, and Substack. “When I surfaced online, no one was covering The Row at the level of detail I was, and I received a warm welcome,” she recalls.

The Toronto native doesn’t just buy clothes—she studies them, lives in them, and, perhaps most importantly, curates them. Her wardrobe isn’t just a closet but a living archive of the label’s evolution. “It’s not the collecting that brings me joy,” she explains, “It’s the art of creating an outfit and the state of presence I’m in as it’s coming together.”Her passion for the label began with something deceptively simple and appropriately understated—a jersey <a href="https://thenodmag.com/content/best-white-t-shirts">T-shirt</a>. “It was the foundational piece they were intent on perfecting,” she says. “I followed the line closely, and initially I didn’t have the budget for what I wanted. Once I could finally ‘invest’, I indulged—and then indulged some more.”Today, she approaches each season with intention, even if she’s not always restrained when she shops online. “I used to budget, but I haven’t been as disciplined lately,” she admits. “However, I’ve learned to identify which items are worth the full price and which ones I can wait to find pre-owned or on sale, and that’s helped me manage my spending better.”What sets The Row apart, in her view, is its unique duality. “It’s relaxed yet luxurious, and unlike other <a href="https://thenodmag.com/content/low-key-affordable-luxury-handbag-brands">minimal-luxury</a> houses, it incorporates an edgy element, especially in the styling.”

When asked to single out a favourite item, her answer comes quickly: “My Salpa Margaux from the winter 2023 collection. It was love at first sight and [it’s] even better in person. It’s raw, with threads hanging from the handles, and a fabric lining peeking out from the edges—a real work-in-process piece with an intentionally unfinished look—and it matches my features and personality perfectly.”Ahooja’s taste and perspective have earned her a quietly powerful following—people like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Sonam Kapoor Ahooja, Peter Do, and a throng of other designers and editors. But she doesn’t get easily starstruck, even when I ask her about meeting the Olsen sisters in person (which she has). “I visited their New York City boutique in the fall of 2021 and had a conversation with Ashley Olsen, who happened to be in the shop. After I left, my rep called and said, ‘Ashley would like to invite you to the runway show in Paris in March.’ The show was surreal and exactly as I’d hoped it would be—intimate, stylish, unique.”What began as a personal passion has become a powerful digital platform. “I feel I’ve finally found a community to share my passion with, especially on Substack. They’re a great bunch. I love helping others secure covetable items on their wishlist, and their excitement makes me smile.”But even <a href="https://thenodmag.com/tag/slow-fashion">slow fashion</a> (and building a sense of connection across four platforms) isn’t exactly a slow lifestyle. “It’s a young person’s game,” she says. Between parenting, caring for ageing parents, managing health issues, and other commitments, the sheer pace of content creation feels increasingly untenable. “I’m exhausted and I need to slow down. But there doesn’t seem to be middle ground when it comes to content creation,” she admits. “I’ve tried detoxing, but as soon as I decide to take a break, an offer pops up that pulls me back in. I’m sure the universe will send me stronger signals when my time is up,” she adds, laughing.<figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1440/1792;" src="https://assets.thenodmag.com/website-assets/neelam_ahooja_The_Nod_d852725876.jpg" alt="Neelam Ahooja in a Séfr shirt, old Cos skirt, The Row T-Strap sandals, and Elio bag|caption|" width="1440" height="1792"><figcaption>Ahooja in a Séfr shirt, old Cos skirt, The Row T-Strap sandals, and Elio bag</figcaption></figure>At home, her devotion to dressing well has rubbed off. Offline, she’s a mom of two, and both her kids are regular visitors to her closet. However, her daughter, who’s begun to eye The Row pieces, is mostly limited to borrowing Ahooja’s tops and coats. “We’re not the same shoe size, so I only have to share the clothes,” she explains.As for the rest of her family? They’ve accepted her passion, frayed threads and all. “My husband (a budding Buddhist) and my kids think I should probably be committed,” she jokes. “But truly, they’re very supportive of my work.”While Ahooja does sell her pieces from time to time in her Substack, she isn’t averse to the idea of an in-person closet sale: “That’s a great idea—just before I retire from the online game!”Whether or not that time comes soon (keeping my eyes peeled and Canadian visa handy), she has already built a quiet legacy: a life styled in exacting detail, in full awareness, with a deep and contagious joy. “Fashion is my passion and having an outlet saved my soul,” she says. And in that, she’s given others the same gift.

Neelam Ahooja in The Row’s Dustina blazer, T-Strap flats, and Round 90s bag

neelam.ahooja_the row collector profile_The Nod

She used to be an accountant. Now she is The Row’s most devoted collector

There are some things in life I’ll likely never get my grubby little mitts on. Oh, you know. A palazzo on Lake Como. That vintage Porsche I secretly, shamefully love. An early Shakespearean manuscript. A toilet made of gold. And every piece in every collection from The Row.It’s just not going to happen for me. I’ve accepted this. Yet every time The Row shows its collection in Paris, I swoon hopelessly despite myself, and with each season that passes, it’s getting worse, not better. The good news is that apparently, I’m not alone. According to insights analysts at fashion search engine <a href="https://www.tag-walk.com/en/">Tagwalk</a>, The Row has seen a 97 per cent increase in searches in the last three years. An ascension that doesn’t seem to be slowing down: autumn/winter ’24 saw a 104 per cent increase in searches year on year. What’s more, in Tagwalk’s brand rankings, The Row has climbed 17 spots, moving from 40th place for spring/summer ’24 to 23rd place for autumn/winter ’24. That’s one giant leap for asymmetrical draping.The Row may live rent-free in our search histories, but don’t expect to be wearing it any time soon if you have actual rent to pay. Not even a sample; the brand’s rare sample sales draw desperate all-day outdoor neutral-toned queues, and its shows are the most exclusive at Paris Fashion Week, the antithesis of the now normalised luxury super-show. Hermès, that bastion of near-unattainable quiet luxury has expanded its show and event guest lists to help bring more entry-level client attention to its recent beauty line. But The Row is having none of this enthusiastic democratisation. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s baby, swaddled in mysterious grade A-cashmere splendour, remains safely behind doors that are closed to almost everyone.<figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:2000/1333;" src="https://assets.thenodmag.com/website-assets/The_Row_Story_thenodmag_0e7bb4bc32.jpg" alt="TheRowStory_thenodmag.jpg" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Their lips are sealed. The interviews they choose to give are few and far between, and there isn’t an influencer collab—or even loan—in sight. If you see an influencer in The Row, she bought it. Even the brand’s <a href="https://www.instagram.com/therow/">Instagram account</a> remains elegantly aloof, showcasing works of art that have presumably informed the collection. The fact that The Row’s designers were thrust into the spotlight playing an interchangeable sitcom baby before they could speak is not, in this writer’s humble opinion, a coincidence.There is something vaguely ironic about fashion’s season-long obsession with ‘quiet luxury’, which, on TikTok at least, appears to have made a verbal segue into what is now referred to as ‘the old money aesthetic’. A trend arguably propelled, at its origin, by the rise and long reign of The Row. But wouldn’t your money have to be burning a pretty fresh new hole in your pocket for you to spend €350 (₹31,367) on a t-shirt? Or €16,000 (₹14,34,000) on a transitional coat? Here in Europe at least, ‘old money’—like, you know, the OG aristocratic kind—means rolling one’s eyes snobbishly at wild spending and thinking twice before taking that cab across town. Lest you forget you’ve got to repair your chateau’s leaky roof by summer, chérie. No matter. The trend charges on, and its penchant for good taste sans label is fortuitous in that it can be trickled down easily into more accessibly priced brands, and in that its key pieces are the sort that can be worn zillions of times without their recurrences being particularly remarkable. The planet’s happy and so is the busy working mom. But who’s buying The Row instead of the copycats?I recently rang my sister, a 30-something tech founder and COO, and occasional The Row customer, to get the scoop on her selection process (namely, how the heck she can justify it). As a woman who is consistently required to look professional without looking flashy, but loves fashion, she told me, The Row holds unparalleled appeal. “Yes, the pieces are very pricey, but they provide what I call background wear,” she told me over the phone from Toronto. “No one notices you’ve worn it 500 times. They just see you looking sharp and can quickly refocus on the words coming out of your mouth. I know there are similar minimalist offerings from less expensive brands,” she sighed, “but I’ve tried them and I must say, from a purely aesthetic standpoint, The Row’s cuts are just better than everyone else’s. Their pieces look more…substantial, somehow.”

At Le Bon Marche, Paris’s Left Bank department store mecca, one does occasionally peruse the small but appealing, well, row of The Row chefs d’oeuvre. The pointed selection of neutrals in delicate fabrics seems to glisten with quality, to tremble with good taste on their hangers. But to my sister’s point, the true power of these pieces is how they fall on the body: I try on the ostensibly simple silk dresses or basic V-neck cashmere jumpers and I am instantly transformed into, like, the chicest person ever. Only then do I make it a point to force myself to look at the price tag and snap out of it. According to Le Bon Marche’s Style Director Jennifer Cuvillier, the label has a solid Paris-based fan club. “We have a very local clientele who love fashion, and The Row is one of the brands our client appreciates most. The collections are timeless and sublime while remaining current, with an evolving silhouette.” Cuvillier's take on the pricing? “The Row pieces are exceptional in terms of quality. They are pieces to be kept and passed on.”<blockquote>In The Row’s two-decade existence, it has achieved what many designers only ever dream of: of pegging its reputation, above all, to quality.</blockquote>At Mumbai’s luxury retailer Le Mill, The Row sits among a mix of other international brands like Loewe and Dries van Noten, along with homegrown Indian design. “We launched The Row [in India] close to 13 years ago...when not many knew about the brand,” Le Mill’s co-founder Cecilia Morelli tells me. “The Row definitely has a very niche audience that loves the brand, but that’s something that’s not specific to India—it has a niche audience worldwide.” Being The Row’s only Indian stockist, Morelli is particularly familiar with the brand’s Indian clientele. She says the pricing is generally a non-issue, although “there are a few customers who just get the brand and for those who don’t, we constantly educate on how any piece from the Row is sure to be timeless.”Thanks to the embrace of this international niche, in The Row’s two-decade existence, it has achieved what many designers only ever dream of: of pegging its reputation, above all, to quality. Long may Mary-Kate and Ashley’s impressively refined taste trickle down, long may their customer quietly find the funds to invest in such quality, and long may the rest of us content ourselves by searching their looks for inspiration on Tagwalk.

Search Articles from The Nod

12 minimalist brands that look like The Row (but cost way less)

She used to be an accountant. Now she is The Row’s most devoted collector

The quietest brand that has everyone talking