The logical end point of minimalism.

Everything changes eventually. About 20 years ago one of our best clients and buyers husband requested a master bedroom suite that looked like the hotels he saw while traveling. He remains extraordinarily successful and this lone request seemed reasonable enough. We did not recognize it as a trend that we would be living with for a while. Her homes remained packed with treasure with relatively restrained expensive and comfortable master suites.

We have had two or three economic melt downs depending on how you count them. The new minimalism morphed into relatively slick catalog design as the best was ever so slightly altered and made as inexpensively as possible. For the majority of us that can not visualize phone book sized catalogs where developed. Elegant and sophisticated but simple fabrics where made in unlikely places with dubious quality. This is all water under the bridge, like so much of that Swedish some assembly required. The trend slowly passes away.

Through all of this if I have received one call about what to do with the collections I have probably received a thousand. Invariably the heirs have little to no interest and I always say these trends often skip generations and not to worry too much yet.

About one week ago I received the most amazing phone call from a good client. Over the years we had shared more than one laugh. In any case she was getting ready to move from the family home and had spread he treasures out for the next generation to review. Her expectations where not too high after so many of the same kinds of stories. Much to her surprise almost nothing was left from a very large and deep collection.

Our recent analytics reflect a new large audience that is mostly around or under 30. The simplest explanation is that these buyers are not willing to spend good money on things that will not last too long. These older pieces where built to last with the kind of detail that is rarely seen. If this is a trend it is fairly new at least this time. I guess we will see. I can’t help but think of the moment when I bought my last pair of khakis. While this firm continued for a good bit eventually it was reinvented and now I think is struggling through the CCP virus like everyone else. Happy Hunting.

The real problem with minimalism is it takes almost nothing to make it look a mess.