What if you are (gasp!) not on trend?
“My rule was not to paint things as they were. I wasn’t copying; I was remaking them as my own.” — Claes Oldenburg
What if it seems like the entire world is zigging while you and your brand are zagging?
I can speak to this only too well because in recent years, my personal aesthetic was not the dominant one. Minimalism and muted tones ruled the day, and I'm just not minimalist. I used to feel bad about that because social media dictated that I was supposed to be wearing beige and shopping at West Elm. All my friends and contemporaries were raving about Marie Kondo. She made me cringe. Maximalism was what “sparked joy” for me - not throwing out all the vintage clothing I had spent years collecting.
I lived in New York City for most of my life, where it seemed like everyone was wearing head to toe black. Then there was me - a person who never met a pattern or color she didn’t like.
I stood out so much in NYC that at a huge meditation event with Deepak Chopra, the man himself made his way through hundreds of people to meet me. His comment was that he found it interesting that I was the only spot of color in the entire room.
I have leaned into maximalism much more since the pandemic. The pandemic made a lot of people rethink things…for me, that took the form of caring less about what others thought.
I did get myself a sleek, white West Elm shelving unit a few years ago. I recently gave up on trying to make it work in my home, and it is now painted hot pink.
These days though, I am hardly alone. Maximalism is IN. I’m even in a Facebook group called “Moody Maximalist Fashion” where one of my outfit photos got nearly 1000 likes! It's a huge group by the way, there are tons of us.
It is exciting to see people dressed in bright, colorful prints by brands on my feed. In a few years, this probably won’t be on trend. These things are cyclical.
Voluspa candles, with their wild patterns and colors were the hot thing when I started my PR agency in 2004 (and I still love Voluspa!). Then there was a shift to simpler, cleaner packaging and it felt like everything became uber modern, clean, chic and neutral.
Simplicity can be so beautiful - artists like Constantin Brancusi, Donald Judd and Eva Hesse prove this. They also happen to be three of my favorite artists. To be fair, Donald Judd did tend to make sculptures in bright orange!
If you have had your brand for a while and your packaging, branding and overall look and feel is minimalist, should you change the look of your brand now that maximalists are having our day in the sun? The answer is a definite NO.
It is so important to stay true to who you are and not change everything with the trends - or because someone said your packaging would look so much better if it was bright orange (the client who told me this, you know exactly who you are and I am so glad you didn’t change things!). I’m obviously a fan of orange. What I am not a fan of is trying to be something you are not. Look around at the rest of the world and garner inspiration, but always come back to where your heart lies.
You can use trends to reinvigorate your brand if you contextualize. One way to do this is with visual content. If you have a brand in clean, sculptural white packaging…what would it look like if you featured it in an of the moment, a lush powder room with patterned wallpaper (wallpaper is back big time and I am loving it)? Or being held by a model in a jumpsuit covered in multicolored bananas with hearts for eyes? I don’t know if they actually make this jumpsuit, but if they do it’s going in my cart immediately!
If you don’t have someone generating content for you on a regular basis, this is definitely something you should not wait on. Beautiful photography and video can bring your feed and your website to life for the customer. There are ways to do this without it being super expensive and it will pay off 1000%.
You can sign up for packages that include monthly photo and video shoots and offer a continuous stream of content, and I can help you with that!
Of course - there are brands that do both like my long time client Compagnie de Provence - who might be the Donald Judd of liquid soap - in other words, minimal but also orange, or pink, or green, or yellow. This is very hard to do well and thus super rare!
Just for fun, here’s some maximalist eye candy for you to check out in the world of decor and fashion:
Polychrom3 - Thalia not only does a great job of explaining maximalist fashion, but also shows off ways to style the things that are already in your closet. She’s big time into sustainability and vintage fashion.
Shaquita Garcia (@theemodernhousewifeny) • Instagram photos and videos - This incredible multi-hyphenate mom, model, and style enthusiast also has her own line of incredible clothing!
SC 👼🏻⚡️ (@saracamposarcone) • Instagram photos and videos - Sarah is the most outrageous fashion influencer I follow and truthfully, I’d never be as brave with my style choices as she is. She is a source of endless inspiration for me though!
⋒ 𝕂𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕖 𝕄𝕒𝕔𝕜 ⋒ (@candycoloredhome) • Instagram photos and videos - This is such a fun account to follow that combines fashion and decor.
Kate | Designing a Life in Color 🎨🌿✨ (@speakingofdiy) • Instagram photos and videos - If you want to create a maximalist home on the cheap, Kate is your go to!
