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While trends in loungewear and minimalism seemed everywhere during the pandemic, a new trend on the other end of the spectrum is catching on: maximalism. Followers look to bold colors, mixed prints and couture elements to give themselves a mood boost during otherwise bleak times.
The trend is supported by maximalist influencers, who share photos and videos of their quirky looks – think about creating an outfit entirely from newspapers – on Instagram and TikTok. Their content has caught the eye of fashion brands, including Coach, H&M and Collina Strada, and other companies looking to partner with creators.
Here, four maximalist fashion influencers talk about the phenomenon, giving an insight into their own style, fall fashion trends, and why they think their over-the-top aesthetic is resonating with the masses.
Alix Scherer: @WearingAlix
Fashion influencer Alix Scherer has been a lifelong fan of maximalist apparel, but she leaned more on the creative outlet as a form of personal expression while working in an office for New York City.
“It can be difficult when your work doesn’t involve any creativity, but you feel you need to be creative and have a creative side,” says Scherer, who uses her / them pronouns. “Coming to an office every day where it can seem daunting and you don’t necessarily see the windows and it lacks color – for me, I was looking for something to find an outlet for personal expression and my clothes have always been a piece of self-expression for me. “.
Scherer began sharing her looks on Instagram in February 2020. The influencer has slowly built her following over the past two years, now boasting over 16,700 followers. Scherer’s colorful dresses and uplifting videos have attracted the attention of several brands that have leveraged them for collaborations, such as Hush Puppies Sock Candy.
The influencer defines her style as “colorful business casual,” given their affinity for bold colors and a love for more elegant styles. Their style consists of bright colors, heavy jewels and mixed prints. For fall, Scherer says they can’t wait to wear sequins and tulle pieces.
Scherer’s main style icon is one of the original fashion maximalists: fashion icon Iris Apfel (as well as her family, which she describes as “kind of a fashionista family).”
“My style is very uninhibited and I don’t necessarily conform to the rules that typically apply to office wear or color theory,” says Scherer. “I think people mostly respect that out-of-the-box and uninhibited thinking. As we move forward as a company, more and more people lean on the idea that you don’t have to follow the style rules set by any standard in the past. It is respected that it is good to go beyond those limits and it is good to lean on who you are instead of who you think you should be.
Ami and Aya Suzuki: @amixxamiaya and @ayaxxamiaya
Twins Ami and Aya Suzuki have long been making a sensation for their colorful, matching style, ever since they started blogging and using social media in the early 2010s.
The twins have had many roles over the course of their careers, working as DJs, models and collaborating with Japanese fashion brands, but in all of this they have established themselves – and developed a following of over 550,000 on Instagram – as some of the original fashion maximalists. influencer.
They have worked with many big brands, including Moschino, H&M, Montblanc, Coach and others.
“Our style mixes various tastes and pursues originality by expressing the joy of fashion through the use of color,” say the Suzuki twins in a joint interview. “From hairstyle to makeup, we constantly aim to create an individuality that only we can bring out.”
A hallmark of influencers’ style is their constant pairing, with outfits that complement each other through shared patterns or the same color palette. They also have an affinity for pink, regularly wear the color in their clothes and accessories, and often dye their hair in different shades of pink.
“For us, the key word ‘twins’ is one of our identities,” they say. “We try to match in some way in clothing and styling. This is something we are aware of on a regular basis, not just during fashion week. Our style is very much about the impact of being twins. We express what we can do because we are twins and complement each other by constantly discussing, looking at each other objectively and updating each other. ”
Their love of pink is something they will keep on their feet this fall. In addition to keeping their pink hairstyles, the twins can’t wait to style their looks with pink corsets and vintage pieces.
Sara Camposarcone: @saracamposarcone
Sara Camposarcone cemented her status as a maximalist fashion influencer thanks to one of her first viral videos on TikTok last year in which the Toronto-based designer tries on a dog-themed suit.
Since then, she has posted many videos focused on styling an unconventional piece, such as a burger-themed bra, flip-flops with a grape design, or a kids’ kitchen hair clip. Camposarcone’s bold looks have earned her more than 900,000 followers on TikTok, as well as 87,500 followers on Instagram.
“I would describe my style as quite bold,” he explains. “I am definitely attracted to color. For me, it’s a great mood booster. It makes me so happy, so that’s what I’m looking for. But [my style] it is also quite quirky and eclectic. I love the things that miss me. Anything that reminds me of my childhood, like anything related to a TV show I was watching. I love to play with my inspiration for what I wear today ”.
Camposarcone has always had an interest in maximalist fashion and clothing. The influencer began developing his style of him in high school when he developed his affinity for thrift shopping. After college, she turned her love of fashion into a career, working in marketing at a clothing company, and now works as a full-time content creator, collaborating with fashion brands and big companies like McDonald’s and Samsung.
She has a lot of style influences for her quirky outfits, but takes most of her ideas from looking at the 90s runways of designers like Marc Jacobs and Betsy Johnson, as well as from Japanese fashion magazines, she says. This fall, she can’t wait to wear layers again, as well as bring back her favorite furry hats.
“At first it started out like, ‘oh this person is super weird and his style is really weird,'” he says of his videos. “It’s interesting to watch, but at the same time I don’t think people were really how I dressed like her, but with the passage of time it has come to this point where people follow and watch my videos not even just for fashion but for the confidence I convey in my videos, or simply for the inspiration that you can wear whatever you want and not worry about what people think.
