The Importance of Minimalism in a Maximalist World
Spectacle is fun; simplicity is boring. But boredom is perhaps what we’re most lacking today.
“Phase of Nothingness–Water” by Nobuo Sekine
Source: Pinault CollectionFashion thrives on creative tension, and in particular on the pull exerted by the opposing forces of maximalism and minimalism. We’re still in a maximalist era, but that makes minimalism even more important — which helps to explain much of the adulation greeting Matthieu Blazy’s debut collection for Chanel during Paris fashion week in October.
With Dionysian exuberance in full swing at houses such as Yves Saint Laurent, Blazy’s Apollonian conceptualism stood out. The designer has spent his whole career working inside the high temples of structure and austerity—Raf Simons, Maison Margiela, Phoebe Philo’s Céline, Calvin Klein. Most recently he was at Bottega Veneta, where he was described as the antithesis of the theory that fashion should be a spectacle. Now, at Chanel, he’s teamed up with the equally venerable Parisian house of Charvet to make shirts tailored meticulously to be worn untucked, with Chanel’s trademark chain sewn invisibly into the hem to maintain the perfect weight and silhouette.