Leather jackets are a perennial favorite in men’s fashion, consistently trending due to their inherent style, durability, and timeless appeal. A cropped leather jacket stands out as a particularly astute style investment, offering enduring value that transcends fleeting trends. While a quality leather jacket represents a significant financial commitment, its longevity ensures it will remain a key piece in your wardrobe for years to come.
For a versatile and masculine aesthetic, opt for classic silhouettes like the motorcycle jacket or the Cafe Racer. Brands such as The Jacket Maker and Belstaff present excellent options this season. For added warmth and a nod to vintage aviation style, consider sheepskin-lined aviator jackets from brands like Schott or Saint Laurent. Originally engineered to protect pilots from extreme cold at high altitudes, these jackets offer exceptional warmth and style in colder climates.
Sweatpants have successfully transitioned from gym wear to everyday casual attire, a shift catalyzed by the rise of athleisure. Current fashion trends indicate an evolution, with sweatpants now firmly established as a staple in daily wardrobes.
The past few years have underscored the unparalleled comfort and practicality of elasticated waistbands. Fashion houses like Dior have embraced this comfort, featuring sweatpants prominently in their collections, pairing them with tailored pieces, overcoats, and casual garments like bomber jackets, demonstrating their versatility and integration into diverse styles.
The resurgence of 1970s fashion continues to influence contemporary trends, remaining prominent for the last half-decade and showing no signs of diminishing. For the fall and winter seasons, this influence manifests in floral prints reminiscent of vintage textiles, a style surprisingly wearable and increasingly popular. Designers from Paul Smith to Kenzo are incorporating bold floral patterns into various garments, including shorts, shirts, and tailored pieces.
When incorporating floral prints, it’s advisable to limit them to a single statement piece per outfit and maintain a muted and understated palette for the rest of your ensemble to ensure balance and sophistication.
Checks consistently trend in men’s fashion, appearing in various forms and styles. This year’s colder months highlight Black Watch tartan, buffalo checks, and windowpane patterns as particularly fashionable.
Integrating these patterns into your daily wardrobe is versatile and straightforward, especially through garments like overshirts or flannel shirts, offering both style and practicality for colder weather.
Denim stands as an enduring fabric in fashion history, prized for its resilience and textured appeal. It’s likely a significant component of many wardrobes, present in jeans, shirts, and jackets. While complete denim outfits were previously unconventional, recent fall and winter fashion shows have redefined this perspective.
Brands such as Kenzo, under the direction of A Bathing Ape founder Nigo, have successfully showcased workwear-inspired denim ensembles in dark indigo, making the style appear effortlessly fashionable. When embracing this trend, prioritize relaxed silhouettes and wear the look with confidence to achieve a contemporary and stylish denim-centric outfit.
Parkas are emerging as a leading outerwear choice this year. Whether opting for a mod-inspired fishtail parka or a robust arctic-ready style, parkas are characterized by their substantial presence and versatility, easily layered over diverse outfits. They effectively casualize formal wear by contrasting with the sharp lines of blazers, while also elevating more relaxed casual ensembles.
For a streetwear-influenced look, consider pairing a black technical parka with sweatpants, a hoodie, and your preferred sneakers, creating a contemporary and functional urban style.
Skinny legwear is declining in popularity, with even slim-fit styles diminishing in recent years. The fashion landscape is witnessing a resurgence of relaxed-fit pants reminiscent of the 1980s, 1990s, and even earlier eras like the 1950s.
After years of embracing slim-fitting jeans, transitioning to looser legwear might initially feel unconventional. However, adopting a relaxed leg silhouette can be surprisingly appealing, offering not only a stylish aesthetic but also enhanced comfort.
Fashion Week highlights have showcased a renewed interest in reinventing the suit. While tailoring experienced a temporary decline in favor of more casual attire, it is making a comeback with innovative and appealing approaches.
One accessible approach to modern tailoring is tonality. Virgil Abloh’s final Louis Vuitton collection featured models in monochromatic velvet and off-white wool suits, complete with matching shirts and ties. Beyond this, tonal dressing extends to pairing dark grey suits with matching T-shirts or navy blue suits with complementary knitwear, offering versatile and stylish suit options.
Rugged, thick soles have been a prominent feature in recent men’s footwear trends, a trend reinforced by fall and winter fashion shows. Chunky commando soles significantly transform the shoes they are applied to. Penny loafers gain a bolder presence, while Chelsea boots evolve into robust winter-ready footwear.
The added bulkiness of commando soles also broadens wardrobe options, allowing for experimentation with looser fits and heavier layering, enhancing both style and practicality in footwear choices.
The ascent of technical outerwear in fashion has been a significant trend in recent seasons, set to continue into the coming year. Cropped, zip-up silhouettes are currently central, ideal for quick errands or as a mid-layer under winter coats, providing extra insulation and protection from the elements.
Established outerwear brands like Canada Goose, Woolrich, and The North Face remain solid investments. Additionally, emerging labels such as Crescent Down Works and Adsum, alongside specialized outdoor brands like Arc’teryx, are also noteworthy for their innovative and stylish technical outerwear offerings.
Button-through polo shirts are consistently a strong choice for summer. From classic pique, tennis-inspired styles to contemporary open-collar versions, polos are versatile, easy to wear, and pair well with shorts, chinos, and virtually any summer attire.
This season, button-through polos are particularly fashionable. Their placket detail, resembling that of a traditional shirt, adds a touch of formality, making them suitable for elevating weekend outfits or softening more structured tailoring, bringing a Riviera-inspired flair to your suits.
Varsity jackets have maintained their style relevance for nearly a century. Characterized by a short body and ribbed hems and cuffs, they have long been associated with preppy style. Think combinations with jeans, penny loafers, crisp white tees, and classic black Wayfarer sunglasses for a timeless look.
Originally designed to display American football and baseball team insignias, varsity jackets also offer a simple way to introduce color into your summer wardrobe. Many brands, including Louis Vuitton and Dior, featured them in their spring and summer collections. However, vintage shops often provide excellent and unique varsity jacket finds, making them worth exploring.
The workwear trend has been a significant influence in fashion for some time and is expected to persist. However, traditional workwear garments like flannel shirts, chore jackets, and heavy-duty combat trousers are typically more suited to fall and winter climates.
To incorporate workwear aesthetics into summer wardrobes, the utility vest emerges as the ideal solution. Featuring multiple pockets and zip closures, this garment, traditionally associated with outdoor activities, adds a functional and stylish element to summer outfits, blending practicality with contemporary fashion.
Cardigans often suffer from a somewhat outdated image, often linked to conventional styles. However, for this spring and summer, numerous designers are reimagining the cardigan, presenting oversized silhouettes that resonate with 1990s grunge aesthetics.
With dropped shoulders and a slightly elongated length, these oversized cardigans serve as a stylish alternative to lightweight jackets, perfect for providing warmth on cooler spring evenings and adding a relaxed, contemporary layer to your look.
In recent years, oversized styles have permeated nearly every aspect of fashion trends. From T-shirts to trousers, the shift away from slim and skinny fits, which dominated menswear for years, is almost complete. Tailoring is also embracing this trend.
The slouchy suit features a fuller cut than traditional suits, with dropped shoulders, a relaxed waist, and an unstructured fit. It is best styled unconventionally, pairing well with lightweight knitwear, tees, and sneakers rather than formal shirts and shoes. For a heightened style statement, it’s an excellent choice for sophisticated occasions like dinner dates or team gatherings.
Are short shorts still in vogue? Major high-fashion houses like Fendi and Zegna, among many other tastemakers, suggest otherwise, based on their recent runway shows. This season marks the resurgence of longer, wider shorts, reflecting a broader trend towards more relaxed fits across menswear.
The key to mastering this trend is achieving the correct length. Aim for shorts that end a couple of inches above the kneecap and choose tailored styles that can be effortlessly paired with both casual and more refined pieces, ensuring versatility and style.
All-black tailoring is notoriously challenging to execute well, often appearing appropriate only for formal somber occasions. However, brands like Louis Vuitton, Dunhill, and Paul Smith demonstrated its potential for stylishness in their spring and summer collections.
The trick to making black tailoring work is to dress it down. Pair it with black knitted polos and combine with black penny loafers or sneakers for a look that balances sophistication with a subtly rebellious edge, evoking both classic elegance and contemporary style.
In alignment with the hiking apparel trend and the rise of gorpcore fashion, technical sandals remain a prominent trend and are not fading away. As a more practical alternative to leather sandals, technical sandals often feature rubber soles and waterproof nylon straps with velcro closures for a secure fit.
Ideal for extended walks, beach outings, or casual weekend wear, technical sandals are more versatile than initially perceived. They offer a blend of functionality and modern style, suitable for various summer activities and casual settings.
While summer typically encourages brighter and more varied color palettes, leading global designers are advocating for neutral, tonal dressing this season. The core concept is simplicity: select a shade and build your entire outfit around it.
For an effortless approach to dressing, focus on cool greys, warm stone hues, or deep blues, and construct your complete look within this chosen color family. This simplifies outfit creation and achieves a cohesive, stylish appearance.
A relatively recent and increasingly popular trend is the tablecloth shirt. Crafted from or inspired by vintage tablecloths, these elegantly patterned shirts are becoming a sought-after summer garment. Typically featuring a white base with intricate, colorful, hand-stitched patterns, the tablecloth shirt serves as a statement piece in itself.
Style it simply with slip-on shoes and mid-wash denim, which leads to the next significant trend in men’s fashion.
While dark or raw denim is a recognized menswear essential, its practicality diminishes in warmer weather. Fortunately, this season offers a solution: mid-wash denim. Lighter in shade, casual in appearance, and universally compatible, mid-wash denim was prevalent in spring and summer menswear collections and appears poised to become a lasting staple.
