The power of TV

“You will never guess how it ends,” said the actor David Rasche, who plays Karl, about the final episode of Succession. By this time next week, we won’t need to.

Five years after it first aired, Succession will be put to bed for good, its creator Jesse Armstrong adamant that it would never go off the boil or outstay its welcome. Just as we’ll never guess how it ends, nor could we have guessed how much it would dominate the fashion landscape.

Unlike so many other TV shows, fashion was never Succession’s point: it didn’t court comment by means of flashy, bombastic styling, but it attracted it anyway. It didn’t set out to make “quiet luxury” a thing, but it became one regardless, as viewers obsessed over the clothes as avidly as the plot twists.

Like many fans, I’m pre-grieving the show’s demise, but I won’t grieve the death of quiet luxury. I’m ready for something new. But what? As May’s Cruise shows come to an end (Dior showed in Mexico, Chanel in LA, Gucci in South Korea, Louis Vuitton in Italy) I can’t help but note that for all the vast expense, miles travelled and Stories / Tiktoks posted, people are more fixated on Succession’s fashion than the clothes shown on the catwalks.

As a trend generator and a conduit between designer and customer, never has TV felt more powerful than now.