Do You Have Rich Dad Energy? How to Spot Menswear’s Latest Subsection of Swagger.
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You could argue it’s been the spring of the Rich Mom.
From the elegant bespoke creations Beyonce has worn on her Renaissance tour—which at some performances has featured her eldest, Blue Ivy, leading her troupe of backup dancers—to the oft-referenced, stealth-wealth wardrobe Gwyneth Paltrow donned during her ski-collision trial earlier in the year, a particular swath of mothers with means can’t stop making headlines with their specific senses of style. The Times of London gave this phenomenon the moniker Rich Mom Energy, or RME. The muses for this enigmatic presence range from Paltrow (the indisputable leading avatar of this trend) and the Queen B to lawyer Amal Clooney and billionaire businesswoman Akshata Murthy, whose old ball and chain happens to be current British prime minister Rishi Sunak.
All of this (and the advent of Father’s Day) made us wonder: Is there such a thing as Rich Dad Energy (RDE)?
It’s no big secret that dads are something of a cultural obsession—from dad style to dad bods to dad sneakers, and so on—so, naturally, the idea of RDE is hanging in the air like lingering cigar smoke. But what, praytell, does RDE actually look like?
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To define it, it’s helpful to draw a distinction between rich dads and wealthy fathers. Logan Roy, the billionaire protagonist of the recently ended series Succession, was a wealthy father: he didn’t really care about material things, and his clothes were clearly expensive yet forlorn in spirit. But Brian Cox, the actor who played him? He’s a Rich Dad, and the swaggering brio of the burnt-orange suede shirt he wore confidently with matching boots and tinted shades while promoting the show’s final season underscores RDE’s most important principle: That you don’t take yourself too seriously to have fun with your personal style.
While RME has a much more cohesive aesthetic (clean, elegant, soothing, minimal), RDE suggests well-dressed guys who aren’t afraid of the occasional surprise. A version of this lives in Nikolaj Coster-Waldau wearing a creamy velvet suit jacket over a low-key V-neck sweater and smart trousers. It’s present in the off-duty allure of Jason Sudekis’ custom color-blocked tracksuit from the Los Angeles tailor Richfresh. It’s on display whenever Jay-Z hits the red carpet, whether he’s proudly rocking a mauve suit or merely allowing one of the fantastic Patek Philippes in his collection to do all the talking. Pedro “I’m Your Daddy” Pascal’s presence and persona are so singularly paternal that he manages to display RDE even though he doesn’t have children.
However, the RDE answer to Paltrow is perhaps best embodied by Ryan Reynolds, husband to Blake Lively, who delivered the couple’s fourth child just a few days ago. Reynolds’s style is relaxed but neat, breaking up tailoring elements so that they have a certain nonchalance and versatility.
RDE extends beyond clothing too. There’s the penchant for niche fragrances from Aesop or Le Labo (not the widely worn Santal 33—Thé Noir and Thé Matcha are a little more under the radar). There’s the begrudging embrace of sober-adjacent lifestyles (most guys with RDE cut off at two drinks, or one if you indulge in an espresso martini), at the recommendation of their trainers and physicians. Speaking of, a guy with RDE is likely training for a marathon or playing some sort of sport—and he’s priced out at least a small handful of psilocybin retreats. Guys with RDE have a vice—think Ben Affleck and his smoking—but still listen to the Huberman Lab and Pivot podcasts (Scott Galloway is himself a great example of RDE).
If all of this sounds somewhat chaotic, that’s because guys with RDE tend to have to straddle two worlds. There’s a foot in a former, freewheeling life, and one in a more responsibility-laden existence. Mix in the current lawlessness of men’s fashion—streetwear, tailoring, Gucci-esque maximalism, and the hush-hush idea of stealth wealth all mixing and mingling together—and you’re left with a cultural signifier that’s both admirable and bewildering. Not least of all because if Rich Moms are trendsetters who are effortlessly in control of their domains at all times, Rich Dads can occasionally be a little bumbling, and perhaps just one step back from the cutting edge.
But the thing about guys with RDE is that their inherent desire for the best means they never stay too far behind the leaders of the pack. Just like great wines—and their Rich Mom counterparts—these guys get better with age.
How to Spot a Rich Dad
If you’re in Los Angeles, look for guys wearing James Perse slub cotton T-shirts, four-figure loopy Elder Statesman sweatshirts, Jacques Marie Mage sunglasses, and Vans slip-ons (and, crucially, a sumptuous year-round tan)
If you’re in San Francisco, it’s Salomon or On sneakers worn with a lightweight Arc’teryx jacket or Patagonia fleece.
In the Big Apple? Uptown, you’re looking for guys in logo-free Loro Piana or Brunello Cucinelli separates. In Brooklyn, it’s the well-groomed guys pairing brilliantly patinated workwear with sneakers that clearly cost more than a Rolex at retail.
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