From budget-friendly pieces by street style lines to splurge-worthy fits by luxury names, here are some of the best modern minimalist clothing brands to love.
Clean lines and modern tailoring are timeless. These are the basic tenets of minimalist clothing design. Over the years, the concept of minimalism has gotten progressively diluted. It had gone through some kind of an identity crisis, evolving from a ground-breaking trend pushed by brands like Issey Miyake to a generic idea alluding to all things neutral.
But with the help of social media and growing demand to develop collections that will withstand the test of time—both in trend and quality—the number of modern minimalist clothing brands continues to grow.
If you’re looking for a wardrobe refresh and love minimalist style, you should look for a clothing brand that does more than just create modern minimalist pieces that are also sustainable.
The best modern minimalist clothing brands include names like Vetta, COS, Totême, and Acne Studios, among many more. Each brand honors the original concept of minimalism, but with their own unique vision.
Below, we explore modern minimalism in fashion, plus the best minimalist clothing brands and their visions, so you can find your new go-to for staple pieces.
Why Go Modern Minimalist?
Minimalism can be applicable to many aspects of life. In fashion, it’s about going through your wardrobe and keeping selected, basic and neutral pieces. These are clothes you can wear for a long time.
It’s a nice and welcome departure from fast fashion, which is often made of lower-quality, lower-priced, surplus fabrics that eventually end up in landfills. Going for a minimalist wardrobe also helps you achieve mental clarity. Makes sense since you’re essentially decluttering, cutting back on how much stuff you have in your closet.
The beauty of modern minimalist clothing brands extends beyond simply simplifying your wardrobe. These brands often prioritize high-quality and tight production lines. However, this also means that you’re likely to spend more on a per-piece basis.
But here’s the thing: since what you’re buying are quality pieces, you’ll not only love your fresh wardrobe, but you can also feel good knowing that you’re making a positive impact on the environment.
Investing in good-quality pieces is essential for a savvy wardrobe. And it starts with finding a sustainable clothing brand that curates pieces to match your personal style. Going the minimalist route also helps save you both money and closet space.
Shop Your Pieces From These Modern Minimalist Clothing Brands
Whether you like the idea of a capsule wardrobe or want versatility, these modern minimalist style clothing brands offer timeless pieces and designs. Each of them proves that minimalism isn’t a linear design approach. And here are the names you need to know.
Vetta
Vetta is a brand that curates versatile capsule collections of five pieces that allow you to create 30 different looks. The brand offers a range of eco-friendly pieces and strives for a thoughtful wardrobe through capsules.
What makes the brand unique is that the colors of their pieces complement each other. It allows you to mix and match the pieces to reflect your personal style. You can also take their style quiz to help you curate the perfect fit.
Encircled
Encircled designs comfy workwear basics. It’s a B Corp and proudly Canadian brand that curates clean pieces free of toxic chemicals. This minimalist fashion brand is the total antithesis of fast fashion. It’s focused on small-batch local production with sustainable fabrics and quality over quantity.
Another thing that makes their pieces worth including in your minimalist closet is its inclusive sizes as well as evergreen designs. Their pieces are comfortable to wear and can be worn multiple ways.
You might find their designs too casual for the corporate world. But for those with some flexibility in their workwear, Encircled might be a great option to put together clothes you’ll want to rock the whole day.
The brand offers clever designs that allow you to change your style depending on the occasion or setting. It’s capsule wardrobe friendly and makes it easy for you to repeat your outfit. Plus, their pieces are easy to carry when you’re traveling since they don’t take up that much space.
Cuyana
Sustainably made and designed to last, Cuyana offers luxurious staples that you can dress up or down. The brand focuses on the use of natural fibers and has a “fewer, better” wardrobe concept with its timeless pieces. They even carry accessories in their lines.
You can pick from limited edition pieces to footwear to essential bags and summer hats that pay homage to craftsmanship and are made with love. But what we personally love about this brand is that it’s founded and run by women of color!
Pact
Looking for affordable pieces made from organic materials? Pact is perhaps one of the most inexpensive organic cotton minimalist clothing brands out there. The brand is Fair Trade certified and features a large selection of comfortable basic pieces and loungewear. They’re easy to wash and remain nice and soft.
Pact also offers accessories and bath essentials and beddings that you may need to welcome home.
COS
When it comes to sustainable clothing, this brand gets famed just COS. It delivers upgraded basic pieces and goes beyond the surface. Beyond the season, trend, and occasion.
The brand offers simple cuts and colors that are timeless. Holding on to their philosophy of “buy better, keep forever,” their clothes are meant to last for years instead of being designed for the latest trend. COS places a high value on sourcing, as explained in detail in their sustainability section.
It’s definitely a brand worth checking out!
ABLE
ABLE caters to the most fashion-forward. The brand offers ethically-curated accessories, with a focus on leather products. ABLE prioritizes employee empowerment, with 95 percent of its staff being women.
Their jewelry collection is handcrafted in Nashville. And all of their other products employ women in Mexico, Brazil, Ethiopia, and India.
ABLE also has some of the prettiest neutral pieces we’ve ever seen—with lovely colors ranging from desert sage, olive, fawn, to antique white. They also offer totes, clutches, belts, and pouches. A good brand for a range of minimalist collections and modern minimalist dresses.
Organic Basics
This brand name tells you all you need to know about it. Driven by their Regenerative Organic Cotton Pilot Project, this brand strives to help combat climate change and make a positive impact.
Organic Basics creates garments with freshly harvested cotton. Which is ethically sourced from the first regenerative organic cotton farm in Turkey.
When it comes to providing you with basic pieces you can trust, this clever brand doesn’t fool around. Their expertise is undergarments, but they’ve grown to include sportswear, loungewear, and other casual wear staples. A sustainable brand definitely worth checking out.
MATE the Label
MATE the Label designs stylish loungewear with a focus on impact. The brand’s garments are made with organic cotton in LA-based factories that are ethical and use non-toxic dyes. From their designs to their color palette, this brand is committed to curating well-loved, well-worn pieces that can survive for many years.
They also specialize in designing basic tees and jumpsuits. And although they are known for cozy loungewear, each piece looks so fantastic that you’ll want to leave home wearing it. MATE the Label offers seasonless fashions that you can wear every day of the year.
Fair Indigo
Fair Indigo‘s basic designs strive to be vogue.
This brand collaborates with Peruvian farmers to produce high-quality Pima cotton. It provides decent wages, good working conditions, and a platform that offers access to education for the children of local farmers. They also use eco-friendly dyes, ethically-made in worker-owned cooperatives.
Fair Indigo has wardrobe essentials as well as dressier pieces that are still very comfy, and is one of our favorite minimal streetwear brands. Their garments are perhaps among the softest and most durable organic t-shirts you’ll ever wear.
And since they are made with quality in mind, their clothes can withstand the test of time, looking almost fresh for years with minimal shrinking. The brand guarantees that your fresh organic capsule wardrobe will last you for years.
Totême
Totême is a Scandinavian brand founded to capitalize on uniform clothing. It delves into the basic look with lovely pared-back pieces that you can wear in every season of the year. This brand has been offering fine, thoughtful outfit edits that precisely express our ever-changing mood from season to season.
Because of its full grasp of the modern woman, Totême is able to bridge the gap between need and want. This is why it’s a reliable option if you want to find interesting pieces.
To the creatives behind the brand, it’s all about minimizing the options and crafting a sleek wardrobe that defies trends. Totême closely monitors new breakthroughs in sustainability. This way, they can make decisions that benefit people, animals, and the environment.
The brand believes that minimizing the effect is a never-ending pursuit with no quick fixes. And their main objective is to expand sustainably.
Theory
Theory started with designing women’s pants. The all-American company aspired to develop clothing with the same adaptable and comfy features of sportswear. It’s driven by the dynamic energy of the ’90s New York City lifestyle.
The brand’s wide selection of clothes and accessories acts as a natural extension of the individual. It’s also big on sustainability. Theory is committed to making an impact, with a focus on using organic materials like cotton, scuba, and elastane.
While its lines of neutral-toned clothing are inspired by sportswear, they aren’t exclusively for gyms or sports fields. The designs are as versatile as their fabrications. You can choose from their knit cardigans to two-button blazers and lightweight midi skirts. The options are limitless!
Acne Studios
Acne Studios reflects its eclectic foundation that leans on art, culture, and everything contemporary. In some ways, it is what makes each of the brand’s pared-back pieces so popular.
From overcoats to standout boots to oversized sweatshirts, each piece is carefully curated to enhance comfort while maintaining the Stockholm fashion house’s elegant and completely unique aesthetic.
This brand believes that its main mission is to develop appealing products that the wearer will appreciate and love for many years. Their sustainability goal is to create pieces that they are proud of in terms of how they look, how they are made, and how they are used.
Nanushka
Nanushka is a Hungarian brand founded on the premise that functionality and aesthetics go together. While not an easy name to utter, it’s a clothing brand that everyone is buzzing over. From its luxury faux-leather garments (yass, sustainability!) to its signature accessories, Nanushka has a lot to offer.
The brand creates beautifully crafted pieces while maintaining an authentic and persistent focus on sustainable production.
What separates Nanushka from its rivals is its ability to achieve perfect balance in whatever it does. The brand can incorporate macho workwear with feminine designs. It can even mix vintage designs with modern materials.
We think it’s safe to say the brand proved with each new collection that it offers something for everyone.
The Frankie Shop
The Frankie Shop reinterprets what the best features of the Parisian persona might look like in places like London and NYC. This brand curates minimalist yet comfy shirts, knitwear, and pleated pants which become fashion’s go-to picks.
The Frankie Shop is a clothing brand that has perfected the art of designing sleek, simple essentials with fashion-forward touches. What we love the most about this brand is that it has made fashion more accessible with its wide selection of items at affordable price tags.
And if you’re wondering if they’re a sustainability-focused brand, we say yes. The brand uses recycled materials and natural textiles such as cotton and linen. That’s guilt-free fashion right there.
Arket
In Swedish, Arket means “sheet of paper.” This modern clothing brand offers basics that allow you to design your wardrobe the way you like. Arket takes a gentler approach to design, offering pieces that don’t require overdoing.
The brand uses natural and practical materials, such as cotton, linen, and seersucker. These textiles help to ease your daily routines while also providing a streamlined aesthetic, allowing you to feel comfy and your best.
Asket
Asket‘s quest began in 2015 with the creation of the ideal t-shirt. Now, they extended their curation into button-downs, trousers, jackets, and undergarments. The brand believes in complete transparency from start to finish.
Since Made In labels does not tell the entire history of their products, the clothing brand developed their own guideline in which they break down every garment into its raw material, track them back to their origin, and include that detail on the tags of each piece.
Asket referred to it as “From Farm to Finish Line.” You may read into the history of each piece and find out how in-depth they’ve gone, and we love it!
FAQs
What is modern minimalist fashion?
Modern minimalism in fashion is all about keeping your closet simple. It entails having a decent selection of pieces in your collection that you feel are right for you. Having a small and simpler wardrobe allows you to spend less time deciding which pieces to wear.
What is a minimalist brand?
In branding, minimalism is the intentional simplicity of a design with the use of simple forms, colors, as well as typesetting. You’ve seen it all over the market. It might appear clean, elegant, or basic, yet it is an intentional style that is well adapted to our modern lifestyles.
Are minimalist brands sustainable?
Sustainable fashion is good fashion. These days, minimalism and sustainability are two major fashion selling points for clothing brands.
Many brands use eco-friendly textiles like organic cotton and linen. And since most minimalist pieces are designed to be versatile, you can wear them in a lot of ways. Depending on the brand, you’ll find affordable finds that can make a great addition to your closet.
And To Wrap It Up…
Finding the top modern minimalist clothing brands might be challenging since most of them sell pricey pieces. But, they are well worth the investment because they are all made of high-quality and ethically sourced materials.
Keep in mind that it’s not always about having a certain amount of clothing in your closet. You must consider what makes you feel comfy and good, and what you feel looks great on you.
Make sure to do your research when shopping for minimalist clothing brands. If you can, go the extra mile and look for brands that meet your goals or expectations. Don’t worry, you’ll find pieces that you’ll love and treasure. And it is our pleasure to help you with that.
Good luck!
