Section styles solve the pattern maintenance problem by enabling one content structure with multiple visual treatments. Instead of creating dozens of similar patterns with slight style differences, create one pattern and multiple section styles.
Unlike block style variations that only apply to single block types, section styles can apply to multiple blocks within a container and work with any block that supports inner blocks – groups, columns, covers, etc.
This approach dramatically reduces theme bloat and improves maintainability. Users can mix content patterns with visual styles independently, and developers can update visual treatments globally without touching individual patterns.
The vision is powerful: design systems where content structure and visual presentation are properly separated, enabling more flexible and maintainable WordPress sites while reducing the complexity of pattern libraries.