Minimalism is grounded in the idea that life thrives when given the space to do so. Just as a plant needs room, water, and light to grow, a healthy lifestyle also requires balance and intentionality. By focusing on what one truly needs, a person carves out a unique space for themselves while remaining conscious of others. At its core, minimalism emerged as a reaction to the clutter and waste created by uncontrolled consumption.
Although it is most recognized in real estate and interior design, minimalism has gradually carved its place in fashion. It promotes quality over quantity, needs-based shopping over impulse buying, and a soft reliance on earth tones and neutral palettes. While the concept may sound restrictive, it often brings clarity and purpose to living. However, like all trends, minimalism has evolved and perhaps drifted from its original meaning.
Today, it has transformed into something quite peculiar:
A Culture Of Expensive Blandness
It takes care and creativity to design an outfit. A true designer plays with colour, texture, and form to create something that resonates with personality. Yet, walk into some stores today, and it feels as though you’ve stepped into an apocalyptic movie, not just because of the prices, but because of the taste. Many of these pieces are so lifeless that even a child wouldn’t sketch them. They are unwearable, more for display than for people.
Then comes what I call
The Unfinished Canvas
Have you ever looked at a pair of pants and wondered why one leg is shorter than the other? Did the designer run out of fabric, or simply give up halfway? Perhaps it’s the African in me that refuses to see the logic in half a garment that makes no functional sense.
The next phenomenon is
The Death of Depth
Browse through Pinterest’s “minimal” trends and you’ll see the same monotone palette repeating endlessly, greys, whites, beiges. It’s as if to be minimal, one must reject the vibrance of Africanness, the colours, the textures, the unique patterns and instead embrace the medieval sobriety of a Western maiden. Something about that feels off.
And finally, there is
The Empty Canvas Syndrome
It is perhaps the most alarming of all. Have you ever looked at an outfit and wondered, “Where is the outfit?” Some look like trash bags turned into “statement pieces.” I’ve seen newspaper-inspired designs that were clever, but lately, the bar seems to have vanished altogether. Plastic bags and transparent raincoats are now celebrated as high fashion. Some argue it’s art and perhaps it is. After all, both a single dot on a white page and a Caravaggio painting can be called art.
But this begs a deeper question: where did we go wrong? What are we losing? The Statue of David was sculpted by human hands. The Sistine Chapel ceiling was painted by a human. Both are simple, yet profoundly beautiful. Are we truly chasing simplicity, or have we mistaken vanity for depth? Has our desire to be unique detached us from reality itself?
Minimalism once invited us to live intentionally, to find beauty in less. Now, as it teeters between art and absurdity, perhaps it’s time to ask whether our pursuit of "complicated simplicity" has made us forget what it means to truly be passionate about one's craft.
