Minimalism

A minimum cannot exist without a maximum: this is the key to interpreting the minimalist phenomenon (simplify, clean, reduce) that characterized the early 1990s, in contrast with the early 1980s, which were full of color, consumerism, and goods. Everything was abundant, overloaded and rich in the 1980s, purified and cerebral in the 1990s (the colors were gray, khaki, beige, black, and white, and there was no make-up, jewelry, or high heels). The contrast was similar to a comparison between the philosophies of two architectural giants, Mies van der Rohe (“Less is more”) and Le Corbusier. Minimalism said Yes to everything that was poor, bare, and rough. It appeared in the design of interiors and exteriors, which were suddenly reduced to bare essentials, and in literature, with writers such as McInerney, Leavitt, and Easton Ellis. In fashion, minimalism had a flag-bearer in Zoran (and also Calvin Klein) and a muse in Miuccia Prada (and Jil Sander), who was able to pare down her taste to a minimum, building an empire of millions on this look. The official death of the movement in fashion can be dated to Tom Ford’s menswear runway show of Spring-Summer 1999 for Gucci: he displayed an explosion of feathers, sequins, printed textiles, and vivid colors. It was the end of Jansenism and a return to luxury.