Fashion People Are Wearing These Maximalist Autumn Trends

In Paul Thomas Anderson’s psychological period drama Phantom Thread, Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays a reclusive, obsessive couturier, delivers a tirade about the use of the word chic, calling it a “filthy little word”. I’d contend that the phrase “maximalism” has suffered a similar maligned reputation in recent years. During the reign of quiet luxury, discerning minimalism and stealth wealth, identifying yourself as a “more is more” dresser was enough to make you a social pariah. It was basically shorthand for saying you have no taste, sense of editing and lack the ability to Marie Kondo your wardrobe. That was at least the case for mainstream audiences.

To discerning fashion insiders, proclaiming yourself a maximalist was a sign of excellent taste, because only the most stringent eye could pile on prints, shower on sequins and layer up jewellery and not look a mess. Then the runways followed, with the new guard of creative directors bringing the art of dressing up back to the upper echelons. Suddenly, it was like luxury designers had started seeing in technicolour. Ornate brooches were fixed to tweed lapels at Chanel. Candy-coloured coats made of recycled glass bounced down the runway at Bottega Veneta. Three-point hats inspired by pirate millinery and nuns’ cornettes punctuated denim minis and shrunken bar jackets at Dior.