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Fashion

ELLE List: The Ones Making Maximalism Cool Again

Meet the creators who believe more is more, and dress like it every single day.

| Taronish Batty
Feature - Publive (11)

Trends have been circling back for a while now, with 2016 nostalgia leading the charge. While most of us are busy recalibrating chokers, tank tops, and skinny jeans for today, a certain set of creators has opted out of the revival altogether. Their language is maximalism — always has been. Unapologetic, layered, and joyfully excessive. No throwbacks, no references. Just personal style, turned all the way up.

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Scrolling through their Instagram feeds feels oddly refreshing. Almost a little defiant. There’s colour layered on colour, prints worn without worrying if they “go”, accessories stacked because they feel right. Every look is bold and instinctive — and it’s hard not to feel a bit envious. (The urge to raid their wardrobes is very real.)

What really sets them apart is that none of this feels staged. This isn’t dressing for content. Their style didn’t start on Instagram — it’s just who they are. These are people who’ve always dressed this way in real life, who trust their instincts and go all in, regardless of what’s trending.

Maximalism isn’t for everyone, and that’s fine. Some people warm up to it slowly. But there’s something genuinely exciting about committing fully — about stacking your accessories just because, or treating makeup like play. As Iris Apfel put it best, more is more and less is a bore.

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And these are the ones who live by that idea, turning everyday dressing into something personal, expressive, and fun again.

Wisdom Kaye

There’s something quietly compelling about watching Wisdom Kaye curate outfits — because nothing is accidental. Give him any brief, any budget, any mood, and he understands the assignment instantly. A six-figure Chrome Hearts look carries the same ease as one built from far simpler pieces. Colours that feel risky on paper click the moment he wears them.

His styling rewards a closer look. Proportions shift. Textures bounce off each other. Every detail earns its place. Even when the look is bold, it’s controlled — never noisy, never trying too hard. Watching his videos feels less like scrolling and more like tuning into a process, one grounded in a deep understanding of how clothes move and speak.

In a digital space obsessed with what’s new, Kaye reminds us why how you wear something still matters. 

Benulus

Benulus is the kind of maximalist who proves that “ugly” T-shirts are really just a styling challenge waiting to happen. I first came across her through a reel where she took a thrifted, slightly awkward tee and turned it into something undeniably cool — and honestly, that one video tells you everything about her creative vision.

What makes her style so compelling isn’t just the colour, the layers, or the bold jewellery (though there’s plenty of all three). It’s the way she spots potential where most people would scroll past — thrifted tops, vintage finds, odd silhouettes — and builds looks that feel instinctive. A corset paired with mixed metals. A fur headpiece worn with a prairie skirt. It all feels playful.

What’s especially satisfying to watch, as a viewer, is the trajectory. From styling videos filmed in the closet of her New York apartment — experimenting, remixing, trusting her instincts to now attending fashion school in Paris, the growth feels organic. In a world of neat formulas and safe outfit grids, Benulus represents a messier, more intuitive approach to style: One that’s rooted in curiosity, personal vision, and the joy of figuring it out as you go.

Rowi Singh

Rowi Singh’s Instagram bio reads “Welcome to maximalist heaven”, and it’s less a tagline than a thesis. Long before festival makeup became mainstream again, Singh was building other-worldly looks that treated the face as a canvas: layered colour, sculptural elements, and details that feel closer to art direction than trend-following.

Her makeup has range, but more importantly, it has a point of view. Rhinestones become structure, colour feels architectural, and nothing exists purely for decoration. It’s why her work translates so seamlessly from screen to stage — most notably when she created a look for Chappell Roan for a concert, pushing live performance beauty into something graphic and unexpected. You’re not just looking at a look; you’re reading an idea.

Drawing from fashion, culture, and her South Asian roots, her work consistently blurs the line between beauty and styling. 

Eve Lily

Eve Lily doesn’t just dress — she orchestrates. A London-based creator and stylist, her approach to maximalism feels both adventurous and intelligent. She makes colour collisions, layered textures, and vintage finds read as deliberate and her edits land with a rhythm that feels fresh rather than forced.

What sets her apart is how she builds style. She first broke out in 2021 with her viral ‘Front Row Fashion’ series, where thrift and high fashion weren’t opposites but collaborators. From there she’s blended pre-loved pieces with luxury labels and turned fashion week street style into a creative stage rather than a paparazzi moment.

Whether she’s pulling from charity-shop treasures or high-end pieces, Eve Lily’s work feels like a provocation — encouraging confidence, curiosity, and a wardrobe that actually reflects who you want to be. 

Sara Camposarcone

Scrolling through Sara Camposarcone’s profile feels like stepping into someone else’s imagination. Her looks are unapologetically camp, built around pieces most people wouldn’t know what to do with — a fish-shaped tie worn deadpan, a pearl shaped purse treated like an everyday essential, accessories that feel deliberately odd rather than ironic. Nothing is toned down, and nothing is there just to be pretty.

She styles unconventional pieces with total commitment. Prints pile up, proportions stretch, colours collide, and somehow it all holds together. There’s a playfulness to the way she dresses, but it’s never careless — you can tell she understands exactly how far to push a look before it tips. The result is fashion that feels theatrical without becoming costume, eccentric without feeling forced.

What makes her stand out is how comfortably she sits in that space. She doesn’t soften the camp or explain the choices. She lets the clothes do the talking. In a world where maximalism is often diluted into something more “wearable,” Sara leans fully into the strange, the joyful, and the unexpected — making getting dressed feel like an act of creative freedom.

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