When you recall some of the most-talked-about style moments of 2025, many come from menswear. From Kendrick Lamar’s bootcut jeans to Alexander Skarsgård’s kinky Pillion press tour looks, last year laid the groundwork for experimentation in a market that’s famously slower and less trend driven than women’s fashion.
As menswear continues to adopt maximalism, we can expect some playful accents and bold aesthetics to emerge this Fall/Winter 2026 menswear season, which kicks off on January 13, with men’s trade show Pitti Uomo, before we head to Milan and Paris.
Here are five men’s trend predictions to note for FW26.
Poetcore
In 2025, men took to the streets with their paperbacks in hand, to mark the dawn of the so-called performative male. While some of us mocked him, his bookish style is set to influence menswear more broadly this season. Enter poetcore, a key trend from Pinterest’s 2026 Pinterest Predicts report, which uses search data to plot annual trends. As consumers increasingly resist the algorithm and turn to literature to enrich their knowledge, they will dress accordingly, trend forecasters agree, with flowy shirts, messenger bags and cropped corduroy pants all ushering in an “intellectual fall”.
Corduroy will be a core fabric in menswear for 2026, in line with the trend. Fashion trend forecaster Heuritech predicts a 3% increase in corduroy across social media content next fall, with features of ebony brown corduroy pants set to grow 3% on social channels in FW26. Cropped tops and pants will be another core style as poetcore takes hold. In-store arrivals of men’s cropped tops rose 3% from FW24 to FW25, per retail intelligence firm EDITED.
Analysts also expect menswear consumers to lean into more feminine styles. “There’s a feeling that men are adopting more feminine-coded trends. So we’re seeing subtle shape differences in menswear that reflect womenswear,” says Karis Munday, menswear analyst at EDITED. This includes barrel leg pants, a trending style in womenswear, with men’s arrivals in-store and on e-commerce sites up 243% year-on-year in 2025. Meanwhile, on Pinterest, searches are up year-on-year for terms like “the poet aesthetic” (+175%), “poet core” (+75%), “cape outfit” (+65%) and “satchel bags” (+85%).
Preppy aesthetics, which have dominated menswear in recent seasons, aren’t going anywhere (particularly with Ralph Lauren’s one-off Milan show this season). But poetcore feels like “a nice way to repackage heritage and preppy [dressing], which have been really big buzzwords in menswear for a long time”, EDITED’s Munday says.
Brooches and tie pins
Neck details like neckties, interesting collars, tie pins and brooches are bubbling up for FW26, as men accessorize and spruce up the plain old suit. The trend first appeared back in 2024, but continues to rise on the red carpet, thanks to brooch proponents like A$AP Rocky, Timothée Chalamet and Colman Domingo.
Pinterest has seen an uptick in searches for several trend-related terms, including “brooch for men’s suit” (+90%), “maximalist accessories” (+105%), “heirloom jewelry” (+45%), “lapel shirt” (+95%) and “tie accessories” (85%). While the number of top styles online and in-store with “funnel” in the name increased 46% between FW24 and FW25, per EDITED data, as men invest in more interesting necklines, Munday says.
Dolce Gabbana grew its brooch offering by 325%, according to EDITED, offering 17 styles in its FW25 collection, versus just four the season prior. Prada increased its men’s jewelry offering last fall by 214% year-on-year (seven versus 22 options), while launching new brooch and bracelet styles (zero brooch and bracelet options were tracked in FW24), EDITED found.
“This trend still feels like it’s in its infancy,” Munday says. “We’re yet to see them translate to the mass market, but these more directional [ways of styling] will probably start to trickle down as a fun addition to partywear.”
Slim fit
Our colleagues at GQ called it last week, in the wake of Stranger Things actor Joe Keery’s slim-fit premiere look, but the data confirms it: slim silhouettes will be a key trend for menswear in 2026, notably in outerwear and tops. According to Heuritech, we can expect increased social media visibility of outerwear with a fitted waist (+9%), straight-fit outerwear (+4%), fitted outerwear (+1%), fitted tops (+2%) and slim-fit tops (+2%) for FW26.
It checks out that Keery was wearing Gucci for the red carpet moment. Demna — arguably the founding father of the last decade of oversized silhouettes — is entering his slim-fit era. “Right now, I’m very uninterested in oversized fashion. I’ve been there, I’ve done that,” the Gucci creative director said last June, speaking to German newspaper Die Zeit. Already, Gucci’s pre-fall collection features plenty of ’90s-style, slimmer fitting tops for men, Munday notes, while the brand’s latest campaign, La Famiglia, incorporates slim-fit pants. While Demna won’t be showing menswear in Milan this season, the collection will be presented at his co-ed debut in February, which is expected to cement the trend.
Rugged luxury
The color brown may have peaked when it comes to womenswear, but it will remain key in men’s collections for FW26, experts agree. Sell-out rates of brown items outpaced black in the men’s category for 2025, according to EDITED. Meanwhile, Heuritech predicts that the volume of chocolate brown looks on social media will grow 41% year-on-year by the coming fall, as men prioritize earth tones for outdoors and performancewear.
It’s part of a wider, more sophisticated explorer vibe. Pinterest is seeing growth in search terms including “paleontologist aesthetic” (+35%), “utility shirt” (+45%), “field jacket outfit men’s” (+65%) and “brown linen shirt” (+100%), as consumers embrace what trend forecaster WGSN dubs “rugged luxury”. “Get ready for sophisticated escapism,” WGSN’s 2026 trend report notes, as consumers “infuse outdoor gear with high-performance durability and elevated design”.
Khaki will emerge as part of the trend, as the utility aesthetic evolves beyond black tech jackets to more sophisticated silhouettes like the safari jacket, experts agree. In-store khaki product arrivals grew 10% year-on-year in FW25, across apparel, footwear and accessories, per EDITED. The safari jacket trend began bubbling up last season, Munday notes, but only appeared in a few shows. “For pre-fall, Ferragamo presented modern safari jackets, opposed to the more traditional styles suited to an older consumer,” she says. “We expect it to grow for FW26.”
“I think [the trend] goes hand in hand with the year and the evolution in how our hobbies are becoming such a valuable asset,” says Heuritech analyst Frida Tordhag. “We want to wear pieces that are durable, that work for our hobbies, and we want to wear things that actually have a bigger purpose.” This also ties into guardian design, notes Nick Paget, senior menswear strategist at WGSN, as men seek clothing that’s sophisticated but integrates security features to minimize incidents like phone theft.
Retro colors and combinations
Call it the Marty Supreme effect, but retro hues will be a key trend for FW26. Blood orange, as worn by Chalamet to the film’s LA premiere, is one of several retro shades forecast to appear on the runway, particularly in performance and outerwear. According to Heuritech data, both blood orange and orange red are forecasted to grow 9% on social media in the fall, and brick orange tops will be a key item, set to rise 19%. “Menswear will [lean into] retro extroversion,” Tordhag says, giving rise to further bold shades, contrasted on windbreakers, track tops and puffer jackets.
Pinterest predicts icy blue — another color worn by Chalamet on his recent press tour — as a season favorite. Searches are up 50% for “icy blue” on the platform, while scores of pins feature the shade styled with neutrals or contrasting bright colors. Also blues, the visibility of cobalt and ultramarine on social media is predicted to grow 10% and 19%, respectively, per Heuritech. “These colors can easily be blended into a look,” Tordhag says, “without overtaking the whole aesthetic.”
Finally, pink — a prominent color in menswear in 2025 — will continue its reign. Heuritech forecasts visibility of pink to surge 41% for FW26, as more men continue to adopt the controversial shade, despite it sparking outrage last year when right-wing netizens noticed J.Crew stocking a pink sweater.
Manosphere aside, forecasters agree that menswear customers will take more risks when getting dressed in 2026. “The expansion of the kind of role models men look to for style advice will fuel more experimental dressing,” says WGSN’s Paget. “Red carpet moments inspire viral trends, with protagonists such as Kendrick Lamar, Travis Kelce, Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal spiking menswear must-haves. Catwalk trends are closely tied to this, as brands continue to invest significantly in their brand ambassadors.” Whether it’s controversial colors, embellished collars, or romantic poetcore aesthetics — we’re set for some experimentation next fall.
