Maximalism is the new Minimalism

Colour is seeping back into our wardrobes, along with clashing prints, improbable accessories and outfits that look like they were put together by an actual human being with a personality, rather than a pinterest board. Minimalism, the defining aesthetic of the past decade, is losing its grip to something louder, messier, and considerably more fun – Maximalism.

But perhaps the appeal goes beyond the clothes themselves. In a world where our tastes are increasingly shaped by that we see on a screen, dressing differently has begun to feel like a way of taking something back. 

The algorithm loved beige 

Social media didn’t invent trends. It changed how quickly we move from one to the next. Once upon a time, a look might have moved from the runway to a magazine, from a magazine to the high street, and eventually from the high street into your wardrobe. Now, the journey takes a single swipe. You see an outfit on you like on TikTok and have it delivered by Thursday. Multiply that process by millions of people watching the same videos, saving the same posts and shopping the same recommendations and the result is a strange kind of uniformity. An entire generation dressing from the same feed. 

The algorithm favours what is immediately recognisable, packaged, and repeatable. Minimalism, with its neutral palette and uncomplicated silhouettes were perfectly suited for the job. The clean girl, the old money aesthetic, the capsule wardrobe. Each arrived packaged with the promise of effortless individuality, only to become another set of instructions for achieving it. 

Minimalism offers a sense of order in an increasingly noisy and orderless world. It offers ease and being able to look put together and socially acceptable. But somewhere along the way, the point might have been lost. The aesthetic that encouraged us to buy less, started encouraging all of us to buy the same things. 

Dressing our way out of the algorithm 

Maximalism, in essence, is the complete opposite of order. It is loud and chaotic and full of personality. It is a wardrobe built through accumulation instead of instruction. It might involve cobalt blue with chocolate brown, a striped shirt, floral dress or a yellow coat that makes you feel insane but you still love it. 

The point is not every outfit needs to be loud. Maximalism isn’t just about wearing as many colours, patterns and accessories as possible. It is the freedom to combine things according to your own logic, even when that logic makes little sense to anyone else. 

That freedom feels particularly appealing at a time when so much of our taste is mediated by algorithms designed to predict what we will like before we have worked it out ourselves. And, that probably explains culturally we are seeing the resurgence of maximalism. 

Maximalism asks us to trust our own judgement again. To wear something because we find it beautiful, sentimental, funny, strange, and not because we have seen it worn 100 times before. To get dressed without needing the result to be legible to everyone else. 

Because the best outfits, regardless of which aesthetic they fall into, are often the ones that reveal something about the person wearing them. 

• fashion
• maximalism
• minimalism
• style
• trend