How the 1% stole minimalism (then threw it away)

0:00 Minimalism, a movement based on intentional living, about removing the excess,

0:05 focusing on what matters and finding purpose through living simply,

0:09 or a sleek, curated way to flaunt your wealth

0:11 and social status without seeming like you're trying too hard.

0:14 A little over a decade ago, minimalism blew up.

0:17 It showed up in TED talks, magazines, brilliant documentaries,

0:21 and of course, YouTube videos by unconventionally handsome creators.

0:24 It went from a niche philosophy to a mainstream conversation.

0:28 For many, minimalism was a practical response to overwhelm.

0:31 A way to reclaim control, reduce distraction, and build a more meaningful life.

0:36 But for others, minimalism became just another way to flex.

0:39 A soft-spoken, logo-free, cashmere wrapped way of saying,

0:43 "I'm better than you." This is the story of how the 1% took minimalism,

0:47 made it expensive, aspirational, and exclusive,

0:50 and then when they were done with it, threw it away.

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0:58 To really understand how we got here, you have to look at where we came from.

1:02 In the decades leading up to the minimalist movement, status was not subtle.

1:06 It was really hard to miss.

1:08 The early 2000s were the peak of loud luxury.

1:11 A time when the economy was booming,

1:13 reality TV dominated most channels, and celebrity gossip was everywhere.

1:17 This was the MTV cribs era,

1:19 where celebrity homes were designed not for comfort, but for shock value.

1:22 Even though many of these homes weren't actually owned

1:24 by the celebrities and just set up for filming.

1:26 Oh, that wasn't your house.

1:27 No, it's all lies.

1:29 These were the life goals at the time.

1:31 Brands became status symbols.

1:32 Louis Vuitton monograms were stretched across handbags like billboards.

1:36 Gucci belts doubled as a social currency.

1:38 Chanel suits weren't just clothes.

1:40 They were statements about your bank account

1:42 and your place on the social ladder.

1:43 For years, advertisers, media,

1:45 and culture had sold us the idea that more stuff was the path to happiness.

1:49 And it had never been easier to get it.

1:51 two-day shipping became the norm.

1:53 Fast fashion was on constant rotation and Amazon

1:56 offered millions of products at our fingertips.

1:59 Then the 2008 financial crisis hit and for many of us it forced a hard reset.

2:03 I graduated in 2010 and I remember how uncertain everything felt.

2:08 So many of us were having a hard time finding

2:10 jobs and didn't know if things would improve anytime soon.

2:13 And so a lot of us started to question what

2:16 we wanted success to look like outside of the status quo.

2:19 That's when minimalism reemerged.

2:21 A quiet rebellion against excess.

2:24 A philosophy that said less is more.

2:26 No matter how much stuff we buy and how many different fads that we try,

2:31 we don't become a more whole person.

2:33 We keep looking.

2:34 This hunger never gets fulfilled.

2:36 What I found with minimalism is it it's a way of saying,

2:38 "Let's stop the madness."

2:41 What started as a fringe idea on some early blogs quickly gained traction.

2:45 There were bestselling books, viral YouTube videos,

2:47 and decluttering challenges that swept across social media.

2:50 But then something unexpected happened.

2:52 The wealthiest people in society,

2:54 the same ones who once flaunted their status through excess,

2:58 began embracing minimalism, too.

3:00 Only for them, it looked a little different.

3:02 Everything in my house is really minimal.

3:05 I find that there's so much chaos out in the world that when I come home,

3:10 I want it to be just really quiet.

3:12 I put out my three faves.

3:14 I wanted my cars to kind of blend in.

3:16 My house is gray and I wanted them to kind of match the house.

3:20 Now, I know what you're thinking, Matt, really?

3:22 Are you really going to gatekeep minimalism?

3:25 Now, who am I to say that Kim Kardashian $60

3:27 million 7500T home isn't her own unique way of expressing minimalism,

3:32 just at a much higher level of wealth than the rest of us.

3:35 Sure, she doesn't own a tiny house,

3:37 but does that really make her any less of a minimalist?

3:40 I don't have a hoarding problem.

3:41 You're just a minimalist.

3:43 Yeah.

3:43 and you don't have anything.

3:45 Look, I think calling Kim Kardashian a minimalist

3:47 is like calling the Liver King a vegan.

3:50 The only thing minimalist about her house is the aesthetic.

3:53 If you strip away the neutral tones and the empty spaces,

3:56 what you're left with isn't simplicity.

3:58 It's aspirational luxury repackaged for a new era.

4:02 Take her sitting room,

4:04 which I guess is a room connected to her bedroom where she sits.

4:08 It looks inconspicuous.

4:09 a sofa and a couple armchairs.

4:12 But don't be mistaken, this isn't IKEA furniture.

4:14 These Orus Polair couches,

4:16 conceived by French designer Jean Roier in the late 1940s,

4:20 sell at auction for over half a million each.

4:23 And that's on the low end.

4:24 This is so absurd that I feel like I need to repeat that number.

4:27 This is a couch that costs over $500,000.

4:31 What the[ __] is happening?

4:33 Just from the short home tour I watched where she

4:36 only showed three of the many rooms in the house,

4:38 I was able to spot two of these sofas and two armchairs.

4:42 These aren't couches, they're status symbols.

4:45 That's why other celebrities like Jennifer

4:46 Aniston and Ellen Degenerous also have them.

4:49 While it might look similar,

4:51 this isn't the minimalism that had us decluttering

4:53 our closets and tossing our little league trophies away.

4:56 Because minimalism was never about creating the perfect empty room.

4:59 It wasn't about beige couches or curated aesthetics.

5:03 It was about rejecting the idea that your worth is tied

5:06 to what you own or where you rank on the social ladder.

5:09 Minimalism was a rebellion against consumerism.

5:13 This is just another flavor of it.

5:15 While it's a new trend to see the rich embrace minimalism,

5:18 if that's what you want to call it,

5:19 when it comes to fashion, it's been around for a really long time.

5:22 As Paul Fussell wrote in class, a guide through the American status system,

5:26 as you move up the classes and the understatement principle begins to operate,

5:31 the words gradually disappear to be replaced in the middle

5:34 and upper middle classes by mere emblems like the Lacost alligator.

5:39 Once ascending further, you've left all such trademarks behind.

5:43 You may correctly infer that you're entering

5:45 the purles of the upper class itself.

5:48 Old money families like the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers,

5:50 and Kennedys have always lived by this understatement principle.

5:54 But now, this kind of expression of subtle

5:56 yet very expensive style has become much more popular,

6:00 and they have a name for it, quiet luxury.

6:05 The term quiet luxury first gained

6:06 traction during Gwyneth Poutro's 2023 ski trial

6:10 as she walked into the courtroom day after day wearing very basic clothing,

6:14 at least basic to the untrained eye.

6:16 You see, she wasn't wearing Everlane or Unilo.

6:19 She was wearing a $613 shirt from Plan C,

6:23 $1,400 Prada boots, and $58,000 worth of jewelry from Foundry.

6:28 To someone like me, and probably most people, it all looked pretty standard.

6:32 I think outfits are actually helping her with the jury.

6:35 They're all very everyday.

6:37 She's not screaming celebrity through her outfits,

6:39 and that's because she's refraining from color.

6:41 She's refraining from glamour.

6:43 I couldn't tell her boots from a $100 pair at Steve Madden,

6:46 just like I couldn't tell Kim Kardashian's millions of dollars

6:49 worth of sofas apart from a $2,000 version at CB2.

6:52 But if you know, you know, and that's the point.

6:55 During the trial, fashion reporters started decoding her plain wardrobe,

6:59 revealing that this was actually a masterclass

7:01 in quiet luxury status disguised as simplicity.

7:05 Quiet luxury plays a fascinating psychological game.

7:08 It signals power through restraint.

7:10 It's a social filter.

7:12 If you recognize it, you're in the club.

7:14 If you don't, you're not.

7:16 She's brought a ludicrously capacious bag.

7:20 What?

7:20 What's even in there?

7:21 Huh?

7:22 Flat shoes for the subway or lunch pale.

7:25 The louder you flaunt your wealth,

7:26 the more it suggests you're unsure of your status.

7:29 The truly powerful don't need to announce it.

7:31 They can afford to be quiet.

7:33 That's what makes minimalism the perfect vehicle for this message.

7:36 An empty room doesn't say, "I couldn't afford more." It says,

7:40 "I had every option and I chose restraint." Yes, thank you.

7:43 These couches are comfortable.

7:45 They cost more than your house.

7:46 That's where minimalism, when co-opted by the wealthy,

7:50 stops being a philosophy and starts being performative.

7:53 The irony is that through quiet luxury and minimalism,

7:56 the elite pretend like they don't care.

7:58 But their choices show their insecurities more than they realize.

8:01 You don't spend $10,000 on a handbag unless you

8:04 hope the people around you know exactly what you're holding.

8:06 Whether you're in the upper echelon or not, most of us fall into the same trap.

8:10 Buying things to signal that we belong, to show that we're keeping up.

8:14 We rarely admit it, but so many of our choices,

8:16 the clothes we wear, the cars we drive,

8:19 the neighborhoods we live in, are shaped by where

8:21 we think we fit on the social ladder.

8:23 Even if you call yourself a minimalist,

8:25 for the upper class, it might be a Birkin bag.

8:27 A step below that might be St.

8:29 Lauren and then Michael Kors, maybe a cheap replica from Walmart.

8:33 It's fair to say that quality and price

8:35 come into question whenever making a purchase,

8:38 but I think we often place far more weight on what

8:40 it says about us and how it's going to look to others.

8:43 The trends across all classes are constantly moving.

8:46 So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that just like every other trend before it,

8:50 the aesthetic of minimalism is starting to fade

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9:59 By their nature, fads fade.

10:01 And while elite minimalism or quiet luxury still

10:04 has a firm grip on the elite class, the tides are already turning.

10:08 We're starting to see the return of loud luxury again.

10:11 Bold logos, statement pieces, and unapologetic flexes.

10:15 And the brands, they're happy to move the goalposts

10:17 again as long as it keeps people spending.

10:19 Gucci, Balenciaga, and Versace are back in the spotlight,

10:23 embraced by celebrities like Dual Lia,

10:25 Lil Nas X, and Rihanna, who are leaning hard into their maximalist branding.

10:29 Opulence is in, subtlety is starting to feel forgettable.

10:33 While the look might change, the underlying motivation stays the same.

10:37 It's a system based almost entirely on comparison,

10:40 on trying to keep up, on always needing more.

10:43 This is the real danger behind these trends.

10:45 Not the clothing, not the couches, but what they trigger in us.

10:49 The endless urge to measure ourselves against others.

10:52 To think we're behind because our lives don't look like someone else's.

10:55 It's a trap and it doesn't lead to happiness.

10:57 It only leads to anxiety, distraction, and discontent.

11:01 Minimalism is the off-ramp from that cycle.

11:03 It's about stepping outside the algorithm, the status race,

11:07 the constant comparison, and asking yourself what actually matters to you.

11:11 Because when you mistake the aesthetic for the philosophy,

11:13 you're not escaping consumerism.

11:16 You're just playing the same game in a different outfit.