Fuck Minimalism: We’re Maxxing Everything Now

Apparently, simply doing something isn’t enough anymore. People seem to be maxxing all aspects of their lives these days: they are workmaxxing, sleepmaxxing, wellnessmaxxing, whimsymaxxing, sportmaxxing, you name it. The term is being slapped onto literally everything.

The suffix has officially escaped the manosphere and attached itself to basically every possible area of our lives. Its origins are slightly less fun: looksmaxxing had already become a pretty toxic corner of the internet in the 2010s before male content creators gave it another life in the 2020s.

Fashion, naturally, agrees.

Looking through the SS27 collections, minimalism suddenly felt a little… underdressed. Cavalli was printmaxxing, Saint Laurent goldmaxxing, Gucci divamaxxing, Armani sequinmaxxing and Louise Trotter continued her ongoing commitment to structuremaxxing at Bottega Veneta. The beloved ’90s minimalism hasn’t disappeared completely, but after years of quiet luxury, clean girls and fifty shades of beige, the mood has definitely shifted. More print, more texture, more jewellery, more drama. Basically: more more more.

Gucci understood the assignment particularly well. The fur coat Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wore looked big enough to cover half the front row and the mini dresses sparkled more than our cheekbones did in 2016 and the eye makeup was smokier than ever.

Maxxing was also happening big-time when it came to fabrics and structure: Fringes, studs, sequins, ruffles, fur, embroidery and quilted textures took over almost every runway. Jonathan Anderson at Dior and Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta gave us a masterclass on that.

Which makes sense. The 2000s and 2010s are creeping back into our wardrobes, bringing statement pieces and unapologetic styling with them, while the ’70s revival has returned animal prints and bold patterns to the conversation. Maybe we’re simply tired of dressing like an extremely expensive oat-milk latte. There are only so many beige cashmere sweaters one can look at before craving a leopard coat.

There is also the obvious social-media explanation. Fashion now has to survive the scroll, and a perfectly cut black blazer doesn’t necessarily have the same stopping power as fur, sequins, giant shoulders and a dress that looks slightly insane. Attention is the currency, and maximalism currently has the better exchange rate.

But perhaps the more interesting part is that this season didn’t just feel visually maximalist. It felt like designers were giving us permission to become slightly more ridiculous versions of ourselves again: louder, sexier, more extravagant and less concerned with looking effortlessly tasteful.

And no, maxxing does not necessarily mean maxxing the amount of fabric. Quite the opposite. There was plenty of bramaxxing happening from Prada and Fendi to Tom Ford, while cheeky cuts, sheer fabrics and exposed skin appeared across the runways. Sex was very much back in the room, quite literally at Diesel, where actors planted in the crowd started fully making out.

So yes, maybe the clean girl is finally getting a little dirty. Maybe quiet luxury has simply become too quiet. Or maybe after years of being told that the chicest possible thing is owning twelve perfect basics in cream, we’re collectively ready to have a little fun again.

Either way, SS27 seems to have one very simple message: if you’re going to wear it, maxx it.

Although amid all the excess, experimentation and supposed freedom, fashion somehow managed to keep one thing remarkably minimal: body diversity.

by Felicitas Wieder