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As Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s ’90s outfits trend once again thanks to Netflix’s new ‘Love Story’ show, we look at minimalism: the core of her style and the secret to shopping and dressing more sustainably. Minimalist fashion limits consumption to timeless, well-made items that all work together. It’s about simplicity and staying within certain colour and texture parameters.

Keep reading to discover how to start your minimalist wardrobe, as well as our favourite brands if you are looking for minimalist staples.

Minimalism: rejecting the chaos of fast fashion

The perils of fast fashion are well known. Mountains of textile waste, the ubiquitous use of fossil fuel-based materials such as polyester, the pressure on garment workers to work long hours under exploitative conditions to make as many clothes as possible… the list goes on. The ills of fast fashion mirror the global thirst for more stuff at cheaper and cheaper prices, something that’s accelerating as platforms like Temu, SHEIN, and Alibaba offer rockbottom prices and swift delivery on almost any item you can imagine. It’s also fuelled by advertisers pushing consumerism at every opportunity, which research suggests can increase levels of anxiety.

Minimalism, on the other hand, rejects much of this. It’s about embracing simplicity and slowness, not keeping up with trends, exhausting resources—and one’s wallet—to keep up with what’s of momentary interest.

What is minimalist fashion?

Heard of Marie Kondo? Admired the style of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy? Then you’re already familiar with minimalism, even if you don’t realise it. The latter is often cited as the modern day minimalist style icon, and while much of the media around Bessette Kennedy today attempts to help readers “steal her look”, ultimately, minimalism is deeply anti-trend and consumerism, so we’d advise looking at what you already own first.

Minimalism is about stripping back the unnecessary, leaving only the things that provide you with real value and joy. It can mean having fewer clothes in your wardrobe, buying less, choosing well, and making it last. This involves opting for clothing made from better quality materials and that is designed to last a lifetime. When done right—and when done with intention—it can create a wardobe that transcends trends and lasts for decades.

Minimalism is the antithesis of the modern consumerist narrative—and for good reason. In a global marketplace that wants you to consume more and more, minimalism says, “Hey! Have you ever thought about intentionally having less?” Less debt, less clutter, less stress, less stuff. The upshot? Less debt and stress for you, and less valuable resources being extracted for stuff you don’t really need. How to get involved, you ask? Start with your clothes.

How to do minimalist fashion

Minimalist fashion is often defined by the absence of busy detailing on clothes, high quality fabrics, sharp cuts, and a colour palette of neutrals that all work together. But there are no strict rules, and you can interpret colours or shapes however you wish. The key is ensuring items all work together so you’ve got a wardrobe full of clothes and accessories that easily mix and match, and are made well. Check out these tips as well:

• There is no magic number of clothing items (or any items for that matter) to achieve a minimalist wardrobe
• Minimalism is about fine-tuning your own personal style, and the key is to avoid excess
• If you do decide to get rid of some items you own in pursuit of a smaller, more curated selection, be sure to do so carefully: either donate it, recycle it, or pass it to a loved one
• Minimalism doesn’t have to be monotone. Consider a base of neutral-toned essentials, like white, beige, grey, and black T-shirts and trousers, then mix in pops of your favourite colour through accessories
• Figure out what materials—and textures—you’ll prioritise. Take a look at our lower-impact fabrics guide for a starting point
• Shop your wardrobe before buying new things—pull out items and assess them outside the context of your usual wardrobe to decide whether they’d work in a minimalist collection
• Secondhand is a great place to find minimalist styles since so much of the 1990s was dominated by the aesthetic
• If you do need to buy new, identify the “gaps” in your wardrobe ahead of time, then outline what you’re going to look for before hitting the shops. That way, you’ll be shopping with intention

Some staple minimalist fashion brands

Great personal style isn’t created on one shopping trip or in a day, it takes years of honing and finding the right items of clothing to suit you. Just like the concept of minimalism on the whole, it is about slowness and intention. If you are looking for the odd minimalist staple to round out your existing pieces and thrifted pieces, then these brands implement fair practices for their environmental, worker, and animal impacts, and are great starting points.

Akyn

Founded by sustainable fashion industry legend Amy Powney, Akyn makes contemporary and timeless womenswear using lower impact materials.

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Shop Akyn.

Dorsu

Based in Cambodia, Dorsu creates everyday basics and key signature favourites that form the core of any conscious wardrobe.

You can find the full range in XS-XL.

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Shop Dorsu.

Colorful Standard

Colorful Standard is a Danish clothing brand that makes organic fashion essentials for men and women. The brand doesn’t care much for seasons or trends, instead, it creates timeless and long-lasting products to avoid the downward spiral that is over-consumption.

Find most items in sizes XS-2XL.

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Shop Colorful Standard.

ASKET

ASKET has been creating timeless wardrobe essentials since 2015 with revolutionary sizing and fair pricing. The brand disregards seasonal collections, cuts out all the middlemen, and only sells directly to you—putting its entire focus on building a single permanent collection.

Find the range in sizes 2XS-2XL.

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Shop ASKET.

JAN ‘N JUNE

JAN ‘N JUNE is a more sustainable, fair and transparent fashion label from Hamburg. Created by young female entrepreneurs who could not find what they were looking for and decided to make it themselves, this minimalistic, super stylish fair fashion label succeeds in being more sustainable and affordable at the same time.

Find sizes XS-XL.

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Shop JAN ‘N JUNE.

Shop JAN ‘N JUNE @ Earthkind.

Kalaurie

Stunning designs, beautifully made, to the highest standards—Kalaurie is one of those labels that gives you a rush of excitement when you first find it. This is a Melbourne, Australia brand that makes capsule collections, with an emphasis on signature shirt tailoring. There are many reasons to love Kalaurie, and it rates highly in all three categories.

The pieces are available in 2XS-2XL.

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Shop Kalaurie.

ESSĒN

“I founded ESSĒN in 2016 as a response to a fashion cycle that overproduces more than it carefully crafts, chases trends more than it determines classics, and wastes more than it sustains,” says founder Marre Muijs. The shoes and accessories brand, which limits its production runs and uses low-waste cutting techniques, eschews the fashion calendar in favour of a single, permanent collection.

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Shop ESSĒN.

Kowtow

Kowtow is a New Zealand brand that uses organic, fair trade cotton and non-toxic dyes to produce its clothes. It designs elegant, timeless womenswear, and also has a range of ceramics.

Find the clothes in sizes XS-L.

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Shop Kowtow.

The Summer House

The Summer House creates beautiful womenwear in India using locally made, lower-impact fabrics. It also partners with local artisans and NGOs to provide opportunities to those in the region. Look out for its elegant prints and flowing silhouettes.

Find the range in sizes XS-XL.

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Shop The Summer House.

HERTH

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HERTH is an Italian lifestyle brand whose design philosophy combines sustainability and ethics with timeless aesthetics. It promotes slow fashion creating contemporary pieces characterised by clean silhouettes with meticulous attention to detail. Crafted by local Italian artisans with lower-impact materials, it embodies effortless luxury.

Find the range in XS to 2XL.

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Shop HERTH.

SANTICLER

SANTICLER is an US-based label that offers timeless collectors pieces curating modern silhouettes in womenswear. Founded by an early advocate of slow fashion and sustainability, its collections are designed and produced with intention to reduce waste, using more lower-impact materials such as GOTS-certified cotton and responsibly sourced wool.

Find most items offered in sizes XS-L.

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Shop SANTICLER.

Minimalist

Anchored in timeless design, Minimalist is a curated collection of women’s ready-to-wear pieces all made in New York and designed to be recycled at their end of life. It seeks to be part of the solution to make fashion more sustainable, using certified lower-impact materials and ensuring fair wage and work conditions in the local New York City factories it supports.

Find it in sizes XS-L.

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Shop Minimalist.

ReCreate

New Zealand brand ReCreate makes boutique clothing that transforms lives through fair employment, training, and empowerment. It uses lower-impact materials, including organic cotton, and incorporates textile offcuts to reduce waste.

Find most items in sizes XS-XL.

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Shop ReCreate.

Proclaim

Los Angeles-based Proclaim makes beautiful bras, underwear, and basics from more responsible materials like recycled plastic bottles and TENCEL. Its designs come in three shades of “nude”, building inclusivity into the brand. It also ensures the people in its California factory earn a living wage, and visits suppliers regularly.

Find the range in sizes S-3XL.

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Shop Proclaim.

Neem

Hailing from the UK, Neem makes men’s clothing with a focus on ensuring a transparent supply chain and safeguarding our environment.

Find most items in sizes S-2XL.

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Shop Neem.

ISTO.

Portuguese brand ISTO.’s mandate is simple: create clothes to transcend the seasons and work as staple items in your wardrobe all year round. It has one single collection and pursues quality over quantity to try and make its items permanently available. It uses organic materials and is transparent in showing you the true cost of your clothes when you go to purchase a piece for your wardrobe.

The range is available in XS-XL.

See the rating.

Shop ISTO..

Editor's note

Feature image via Herth, all other images via brands mentioned. Good On You publishes the world’s most comprehensive ratings of fashion brands’ impact on people, the planet, and animals. Use our directory to search thousands of rated brands.

We updated this article on 4 March 2026. Our editors frequently make updates to articles to ensure they’re up to date. We refreshed the copy and our round-up to ensure the products and brands are current.