As maximalism reclaims the runway yet again, this season's conduit is trim.

In recent years, fashion has shifted from minimalist to maximalist and back again, but this season, the pendulum has swung back with a vengeance.
The '90s minimalism obsession seems to have reached its point of oversaturation, and nostalgia’s latest yearning is turning elsewhere: toward ’80s futurism and power dressing, and the early-2000s fantasy of Tuscan domesticity, where Mediterranean ornament found a home in affluent American suburbia. Perhaps maximalism finds its strength in this duality: reviving past aesthetics while finding invention in the surplus, rejecting the restraint that has come to define contemporary minimalism.
Once designers stretch the bounds of silhouette and form, accents such as trim become integral to a maximalist image. Both functional and decorative, trim modulates a garment, clarifying its overall construction while accentuating its individual components. It can quietly pull a look together, but this season, the edges become the centerpiece.
Framed as a question of indulgence versus restraint, it becomes clearer why maximalism is compelling right now. In uncertain times, the appearance of abundance can offer its own kind of escapism, conjuring a world of excess even when material security feels less assured. And all the while, nostalgia adds yet another layer to the fantasy.
On the Spring/Summer 2027 runways, this impulse manifests in a range of forms: long, dense fringes that trail behind the wearer like capes, oversized fuzzy trims along skirt hems, and plush velvet accents framing the neckline. In these trims, craftsmanship meets an appetite for spectacle.

Chanel Spring/Summer 2027. Getty Images.

At Chanel, spectacle is filtered through the house’s language of elegance. Against a palette of black, white, and solids, trim becomes the point of departure, injecting color and a little amusement into the otherwise polished looks. The silky, floral, and feathered trims bring an organic quality to the house’s familiar patterns, becoming the collection’s source of both personality and vitality.

Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2027. Getty Images.

Balenciaga goes all in, without sacrificing an ounce of its identity. Rather than expanding outward through flared collars or fur-lined hems that add volume to the silhouette, Balenciaga’s trims weigh the garments down, becoming the main gravitational pull of the structure. Feathery, fluffy, and scaly, there’s a spectrum of textures at play, giving the collection a tactile variety that maximalism revels in. The result is a trim that feels less like a finishing touch than the garment’s essence.

Chloe Spring/Summer 2027. Getty Images.

For Chemena Kamali, this recent “Obsession Collection” is deeply personal, every aspect a reflection of her own attractions, with Chloé as her greatest. Guided by “instinct,” as she says the collection began, she indulges in all her favorite archetypes of the brand. With its bohemian reputation, fringe is always the trim of choice, usually accompanied by some sort of lace. But this year, it's especially intricate and mobile. Without this maximalist, slightly hedonistic approach of giving in to desire, some of these special details may be lost to complacency.

Valentino Spring/Summer 2027. Getty Images.

But where Chloé's obsessions are discernible in the details, Valentino makes no attempt at subtlety. The collection brings together feathers and floral embellishments into a jungle palette of fuchsia and leafy greens, creating unabashed combinations of texture and color that feel almost second nature to the house. It's light work for Alessandro Michele, who ushered in an era of maximalism at Gucci before taking his ambitions to Valentino. The result is shamelessly glamorous, with a true warm-weather sensibility that naturalizes the excess.

Moschino Spring/Summer 2027. Getty Images.

Like Valentino, maximalism is in Moschino’s blood, having long served as a vehicle for the satire of Franco Moschino and Jeremy Scott. This debut collection from its new creative directors, Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo, retains some of the house’s signature irreverence, from oversized eyeball earrings that evoke surveillance to exaggerated padding. Here, the trim accentuates the leather pants, finishes the skirts, and brings dimension to the printed shirts. It’s not necessarily the focal point, but one of many elements contributing to a maximalist, hypermodern image.

Spring/Summer 2027 Lets the Trim Talk

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