Words by Pierre MonnervilleI've always been a minimalist but never felt comfortable to call myself one. It's only been a month since I’ve allowed myself to talk about it so openly. Looking back, I first discovered minimalism at age six. I was a neglected child, so I spent an awful lot of time on my own. Even though my room was full of toys, I realised that toys never brought me happiness. They just prevented me from being too bored.

The reason I didn't dare label myself a minimalist was that most of the YouTubers and bloggers I was aware of were quite extreme minimalists. They were also either white or Southeast Asian, so as a Black man, I thought I just didn't belong there. Especially considering I have more than 4four plates at home and—shock, horror—dozens of novels and design, art, and photography books, which in my opinion are everything but clutter. You see, the thing is they don't just bring me joy and make me feel mildly clever and cultured, I actually go through them regularly when I look for inspiration for artistic projects. I absolutely love reading on my iPad, but to me, there is something very special about looking at art and design in a physical book. But I digress . . .

Stumbling across a blog by fellow Black minimalists a few weeks ago literally changed my life. I still can’t believe how liberating it was. Without even contacting any of them, my sense of isolation instantly vanished. That was just the beginning, though.

I launched a menswear label earlier this year. Yes, I design minimalist clothes. Obviously . . . What else could I do, right? However, I spent most of this year trying to explain to regular menswear aficionados what a capsule wardrobe was, trying to justify how critical—and beneficial—reducing consumption was and all the rest of it. Even worse, I felt obliged to pretend I was interested in fashion trends. Needless to say, I constantly felt a knot in my stomach and resented every single workday since I believed I couldn’t be true to myself. Then I blamed myself for not finding the right arguments and was overcome by shame and a sense of failure.