Is Maximalism Really Back? Or Are We Just Tired of Looking the Same
The return of maximalism and the consumer shift from trend chasing to trend refusal
After years of quiet luxury stripping away every recognisable symbol, obsessing over muted designs and timeless craftsmanship, the 2025 runways brought fun back, and the upcoming Fashion Month is set to continue the trend. Fashion magazines proclaim maximalism is (finally) coming back with bold colours, bigger silhouettes, and pattern-on-pattern styling.
But is it really? And if it is, why does it look so different?
The early 2000s were the original maximalism era, with their ubiquitous Louis Vuitton monogram Speedys, Burberry checks, and Paris Hilton walking down Rodeo Drive in crystal-studded Juicy Couture. More was more, and subtle was for people who couldn’t afford not to be.
Then came quiet luxury, abandoning those loud status symbols. Its patron saints, the Olsen Twins, became icons for what they would never wear - logos or anything that announced itself. Their key philosophy: true wealth whispers, and if you have to announce your status, you don’t really have it.
What initially started as a reaction to the flaunting of wealth and blind trend-chasing eventually invaded our feeds again, and turned into yet another trend. The result: everyone looked exactly the same and quiet luxury became its own uniform, just with a different look.
Now, as the runways got loud once again, major fashion magazines started declaring the death of quiet luxury and the return of maximalism. So is the fashion pendulum simply destined to swing between simplicity and loudness every decade or so, or is the new maximalism code for something deeper?
Yes, maximalism is back - but it doesn’t look like 2003. It’s Julia Fox walking through London in a one-of-a-kind emerging designer’s corset (Eve Corsets) with Princess Diana’s face embroidered on it. Jenna Lyons mixing a bright pink Lanvin ball skirt with a grey sweatshirt, high-low styling that shouldn’t work but does. The I Love LA characters unapologetically blending fashion references from five different decades.
During 2000s maximalism, everyone wore the same logos to signal the same status. This, instead, feels more personal and complex. Rather than buying a pre-made aesthetic off the rack, it’s about building your world piece by piece, reference by reference.
While style is changing, we’re starting to treat trends differently. What’s being called the “return of maximalism” might signal something more radical: the death of trend-chasing.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE. The Micro-Trend Era Is Ending
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