Minimalist fashion is a lifestyle choice that involves wearing fewer clothes and accessories but with more specific intentions. It’s about creating a wardrobe of quality, curated pieces and also feeling comfortable. This encourages people to think carefully about what is truly necessary, rather than just buying for the sake of buying. Minimalist fashion rejects the chaos caused by fast fashion, specifically the widespread water pollution caused by the use of cheap and toxic dyes and textiles matters.
Minimalism encourages individuals to eliminate unnecessary clutter and keep only items that bring value and joy. In fashion, the principle of minimalism involves keeping a minimal amount of clothing that fits personal style and promotes personality. By embracing minimalism, individuals can challenge the relentless discourse of consumerism, reduce stress, ease financial burdens, and contribute to a more sustainable future.
Benefits of Minimalistic Fashion
- Having fewer clothes to choose from means less decision fatigue in the morning and spending less time thinking about what to wear for the whole day.
- Less clutter in the closet, which helps reduce stress and overwhelm and makes cleaning a lot easier.
- Not buying clothes all the time and becoming a mindful consumer is also incredibly good for the planet. It means that fewer resources need to be produced or extracted from the earth to make all these clothes, and less clothing ends up being discarded in landfills. That’s just the core principle of minimalistic fashion.
- When anyone has fewer clothes they can easily take better care of their pieces, making them last longer.
- It can end up saving a lot of money.
- Decluttering the excess can also help anyone discover their style as he/she starts to understand what it is like wearing and feel comfortable.
Why Minimalistic fashion is to be chosen over Fast fashion
Environmental concern
Fast fashion is a term that describes the mass production and consumption of cheap, trendy, and disposable clothes. Fast fashion hurts the environment, the workers, and the consumers. A study showed that Fast fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world. It consumes a lot of water, energy, and chemicals, and produces a lot of waste, emissions, and microplastics. According to the United Nations, the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, 20% of global wastewater, and 24% of insecticides. Moreover, fast fashion contributes to the depletion of natural resources, such as cotton, wool, and leather, and the destruction of ecosystems, such as forests, rivers, and oceans.
Minimalistic fashion, on the other hand, reduces the environmental damage caused by fast fashion. By having a smaller and more curated wardrobe, minimalistic fashion lovers consume fewer resources and produce less waste. They also choose clothes that are made of natural, organic, or recycled materials, that are dyed with non-toxic or natural dyes, and that are manufactured with ethical and eco-friendly practices. Minimalistic fashion also encourages the reuse, repair, and recycling of clothes, instead of throwing them away or buying new ones.
Ensuring social justice and human rights
Fast fashion exploits the workers who make the clothes, mostly women and children in developing countries. They are often exposed to unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, such as long hours, low wages, poor ventilation, and hazardous chemicals. They also face physical, verbal, and sexual abuse, discrimination, and harassment. According to the Clean Clothes Campaign, the average garment worker earns less than 3% of the retail price of a clothing item, and many of them live below the poverty line.
Minimalistic fashion, on the other hand, supports social justice and human rights. By buying less and buying better, minimalistic fashion lovers support the brands that pay fair wages, provide safe and decent working conditions, and respect the workers’ dignity and rights. They also avoid the brands that use child labor, forced labor, or sweatshops. Minimalistic fashion also promotes the empowerment of the workers, especially women, by supporting their education, health, and leadership.
Minimalistic fashion enhances personal well-being:
Fast fashion is not only harmful to the environment and the workers but also to the consumers. Fast fashion creates a culture of overconsumption, dissatisfaction, and stress. Fast fashion makes consumers feel pressured to keep up with the ever-changing trends, to buy more than they need, and to discard what they have. Fast fashion also affects consumers’ self-esteem, as they compare themselves to unrealistic and idealized images of beauty and style. Fast fashion also distracts consumers from the true value and meaning of their clothes, such as the craftsmanship, the story, and the emotion behind them.
Minimalistic fashion, on the other hand, enhances the personal well-being of the consumers. By having a minimal amount of clothes that fit their style, personality, and values, minimalistic fashion lovers feel more confident, comfortable, and authentic. They also feel more satisfied and happy with what they have, and less tempted and stressed by what they don’t. Minimalistic fashion also allows the consumers to appreciate the quality, beauty, and significance of their clothes, and to express themselves with simplicity and grace.
Less is more- The mantra of minimalist fashion
It’s a movement that embraces simplicity, quality, and sustainability. Minimalist fashion lovers curate their wardrobes with care, choosing pieces that are timeless, versatile, and ethical. They resist the temptation of fast fashion, which floods the market with cheap, trendy, and disposable clothes. Fast fashion harms the environment, exploits workers, and creates waste. Minimalist fashion, on the other hand, respects the planet, supports fair trade, and reduces clutter. Minimalist fashion is not a trend, but a lifestyle. It is a way of dressing, thinking, and being that values substance over style, and quality over quantity.
Brands that are practicing minimalistic fashion trends
- Armedangels: German brand Armedangels’s quality and long-lasting pieces are made from lower-impact and certified materials, like Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified cotton.
- NAE: NAE is a Portuguese footwear, bags, and accessories brand using innovative materials to create goods with “No Animal Exploitation”. Its lower-impact materials include recycled PET from bottles, OEKO-TEX® certified microfibres, recycled car tires, natural cork, etc.
- A.BCH: A.BCH is a Melbourne-based, Australian-made fashion label that utilizes renewable, organic, and recycled materials.
- Mila.Vert: Mila.Vert offers timeless, minimal, and chic clothing, adding sophisticated details that give the garments a modern feel.
- CARPASUS: CARPASUS is a Swiss menswear brand that makes fine shirts, ties, socks, and pocket squares. CARPASUS uses GOTS-certified cotton and manufactures locally to reduce its carbon footprint.
- Colorful Standard: Colorful Standard is a Danish clothing brand that makes organic fashion essentials for men and women that are also minimalist and chic.
