🧵 **“静奢”时尚的魅力与The Row的独特地位**：The Row品牌以其高品质、无明显Logo的设计，如550美元的白棉T恤、2700美元的围巾和6000美元的包，完美诠释了“静奢”这一长期主导高端时尚的趋势。即使在奢侈品市场整体放缓的背景下，The Row的样本销售依然吸引了大量忠实消费者，体现了其在追求低调奢华和品质的群体中的强大吸引力。

⏳ **排队文化与代排服务的兴起**：为了获得The Row样本销售的商品，一些消费者愿意花费高昂费用雇佣“代排者”（line-sitters），甚至有人通宵排队。例如，Gigi Principe作为“Same Ole Line Dudes”公司的助理，已在寒冷中等待了九个多小时。这种代排服务已成为一种现象，客户支付每小时25美元，外加额外费用，以换取在热门活动中获得有利位置，这反映了消费者对时间和稀缺资源的价值判断。

💰 **高昂的消费与价值认同**：尽管商品价格昂贵，即使经过75%的折扣，许多消费者仍愿意投入数千美元购买The Row的产品。一位个人购物者展示了价值近6500美元的商品，实际花费约1619美元。这种消费行为背后是对品牌品质、设计和“懂得的人自然懂”的低调奢华的强烈认同，即使是来自澳大利亚的客户也愿意承担高昂的国际运费和关税，显示出对该品牌全球性的吸引力。

👥 **社群与身份认同的体现**：排队者之间形成了一种互助的社群，他们会协调休息、用餐，并在规则变化时共同应对。这种共同的体验和对品牌的狂热追随，也成为一种身份认同的体现。消费者们将The Row的样本销售视为“超级碗”级别的盛事，排队等待本身也成为一种参与和展示其对“静奢”时尚理解和投入的方式。

I talked to people in line at The Row's sample sale in New York City.Some paid hundreds for line-sitters to hold a spot overnight.I talked to people ready to spend thousands and saw that the quiet luxury cult is still very alive.

Gigi Principe had been waiting in line for more than nine hours by the time I talked to her. She had the No. 1 spot at what might be New York City's hardest door this week: The Row's sample sale.

But Principe didn't plan to shop the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen brand for herself — she said it's way too expensive, even with the sale's 75% markdown. She is one of many hired, patient line-sitters.

With its clean-cut, label-free $550 white cotton tees, $2,700 scarves, and $6,000 bags, The Row epitomizes the "quiet luxury" trend that's dominated the high-end fashion industry for years.

On Thursday morning, I stepped into the black hole of The Row's cult following — in other words, into the sample sale line. Some sipped coffee or unwrapped bagels; others read in folding chairs; one woman sat straight on the sidewalk, typing on her computer.

The first day of the public sale began at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, and Principe, 26, said she had been in line since 7 p.m. the night before. As an assistant at the line-sitting company Same Ole Line Dudes, she's been paid to wait for everything from buzzy restaurants to legal trials to Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting.

Robert Samuel, 50, started Same Ole Line Dudes in 2012 and described The Row's event as "the Super Bowl of all sample sales." He was sold out with 61 bookings on Wednesday and had 35 on Thursday. Customers pay sitters $25 an hour plus an extra $15 if they want someone in line before 7 a.m., as well as fees for inclement weather or holidays.

By my calculations, the person who hired Same Ole Line Dudes to show up at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night would have paid $365 before taking their spot in line around 9 a.m. to enter the sale.

Principe said the sitters look out for each other, coordinating bathroom breaks and food runs. When signs suddenly popped up on Wednesday night banning tents and chairs in line, the earliest waiters collectively decided to simply set up on the other side of the sidewalk and shift to the correct area closer to opening.

The Row hopefuls don't just pay for line babysitters. One personal shopper told me she had gone for five people on Wednesday and five on Thursday, including a client from Australia. She showed me a receipt for $1,619 for three pairs of shoes and a coat, which would have cost almost $6,500 retail. Those Australian clients pay for her concierge service fee, shipping costs, and tariffs, which haven't seemed to hurt the international appetite for The Row's simple silhouettes and neutral tones.

"They have a cult following. People really want quiet luxury," she said. "They love The Row because it's really, really well-made, but there are no logos. But people in the know know what it is."

Quiet luxury is alive and well

The luxury sector is facing a "significant slowdown" this year, according to McKinsey's State of Luxury report, as is the broader fashion industry. Clients are increasingly interested in luxury experiences over items, the report found. Yet on Manhattan's 18th Street, I saw that hunger for clothing straight out of the scenes of "Succession" is still very alive, especially as wealthy consumers help power the economy.

Three women in their early 30s who hired one of Samuel's employees — "I feel like everyone knows a line guy," they told me — said they valued the longevity of the items. Two of them said they'd given themselves a shopping budget of $5,000, and one of them pulled out their phone to start filming for a TikTok she said she'd likely never make.

Whether or not she gets around to editing her post, social media is filled with videos of The Row hauls worth tens of thousands of dollars, and details of what it's like inside the sale (phones are taped, bags are somewhat rare, dressing rooms are communal).

The woman who hired a line-sitter for 7 p.m. on Tuesday night was back on Thursday, but she had paid someone to wait starting at 4 a.m. for the second day. She asked for anonymity because she'd taken the day off work for the event. Her voice got quieter when I asked how much her three bags and two coats from the first day cost, a sheepish smile creeping up as she politely declined to share.

"A lot," the 37-year-old said, adding they were completely worth the splurge.

Betul Thena, 38, got in line at 9:20 a.m. and said she became "an avid follower of the brand" after attending The Row's sample sale four years ago. Eva Dayton, who works in secondhand luxury fashion, arrived at 7:45 a.m. but didn't mind what she assumed would be around a three-hour wait.

I left the sale before the doors officially opened at 9 a.m., and as the person who'd hired Principe was dropping by to snag their coveted spot at the very front.

"The audience is divided into 'These people are crazy' and 'What a crazy deal,'" the woman who was back for a second day told me. "So you just pick your line and you stick to it."