Current Fashion Trends for Men: January 2026 Edition

Trousers with a fuller leg and front pleats were among the clearest signals for 2026.

CBC’s round-up of the Spring 2026 men’s shows, published on 3 July 2025, noted that pleats were “a fixture of many collections”, with examples at Setchu, Prada and Louis Vuitton.

In CNN’s January report, Martin Wieczorek, chief product officer of the British retailer END., suggested “super-wide pleated trousers from YMC or Studio Nicholson, matched with classic wool knitwear”.

In Forbes on 29 December 2025, the Paris-based creative director Jackson Greathouse Fall also said he was seeing suit trousers get wider, with more pleats.

Roomier jackets, with wider shoulders and a longer, boxier body, continued into 2026.

The online retailer ASOS, in its 2026 trend report published in January 2026, described menswear silhouettes as broadening, with oversized tailoring and structured jackets.

CNN’s January report pointed to the “softened tailoring” shown at Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann in 2025, and summed up 2026 tailoring as relaxed but polished.

The reporting we checked supports yellow as a colour of the year, covered in the section on other signals below, but not sage green or butter yellow as the key blazer colours.

The jackets pictured here are mostly navy, grey, brown, black and cream, which are easier colours to start with.

Double-breasted jackets, which close with two overlapping fronts and two columns of buttons, were tipped for 2026 by a tailoring business and a content creator.

In the Forbes article of 29 December 2025, Steve Knorsch, US managing director of the tailor Cad & The Dandy, said double-breasted jackets and suits were returning, particularly among young professionals under 35.

In CNN’s January report, Andrew Amoako, a London wealth management associate who posts about dressing for corporate life, predicted more gilets, trench coats and double-breasted suits after the quarter-zip.

Both are forecasts, one from a tailoring business and one from a content creator, rather than measured sales, so read them as informed opinions.

We found no reporting that cotton double-breasted blazers have displaced wool and linen versions, so choose the cloth that suits your climate.

On a drop-shoulder suit, the shoulder seam sits below the natural shoulder line.

We found no dated reporting that singles out the drop shoulder, but there is broader support for softer, fuller suits.

InStyle’s autumn 2025 menswear round-up, written by Jonathan Borge, described 1970s-inspired suits with wide lapels and generous proportions, and CNN’s January report summed up 2026 tailoring as relaxed and softened.

Varsity jackets, with a wool body, leather sleeves and ribbed collar, cuffs and hem, came from American college sport and have been worn far beyond it for decades.

The reporting we checked for this edition did not single out varsity jackets as a 2026 trend, so treat this section as a long-running campus classic rather than a new signal.

The wider sporty and collegiate influence was visible, though: CBC’s spring 2025 trend report noted “the influence of sports on fashion right now”, and rugby shirts and stripes, covered below, carried that mood into 2026.

Wear: a navy and cream varsity jacket, a grey crew-neck jumper or a white Oxford shirt, dark straight jeans or grey wool trousers, and white leather trainers or brown loafers.

For campus outfits built around a varsity jacket, see our Ivy League outfit ideas, and for how the look differs on each side of the Atlantic, our comparison of British and American preppy style.

Loafers were one of the strongest footwear signals going into 2026.

CNN reported Lyst data showing that searches for Saint Laurent’s Le Loafer rose by an average of 66% month on month in the third quarter of 2025, and its summary of the year ahead had loafers, derbies and boots replacing trainers as default shoes.

The January sources point the other way on soles: Lyst’s December 2025 forecast said that “chunky soles had a long reign, but the pendulum has swung sharply in the opposite direction”, towards slim soles and minimal loafers.

The loafers pictured have thick soles; either works, but a slimmer sole is closer to the 2026 reporting.

Wear: brown penny loafers with wide grey trousers, a navy knit and an overcoat; or black loafers with dark jeans, a white Oxford shirt and a relaxed blazer.

Our guides to loafers, dress shoes and Oxford shoes cover the main shoe types and when to wear each.

Dressing in shades of one colour, sometimes called tonal or monochrome dressing, featured in coverage of the Spring 2026 shows.

Forbes contributor Brett F. Braley-Palko, reporting from Paris on 4 July 2025, noted that The Row, Lemaire and Hermès kept to a similar palette of black, tan and grey.

Lyst’s December 2025 forecast also expected tonal and monochrome leather outfits.

The trick is to vary texture and weight so the outfit does not look flat, for example a ribbed knit with smooth wool trousers.

Wear: an oatmeal ribbed jumper, cream or stone trousers, a camel overcoat and brown suede loafers.

Our monochrome outfit guide has more combinations, and our guide to dressing for the occasion, location, season and time of day helps you choose colours and weights for where you are going.

The January reporting supports a broader story about textured knitwear rather than patterned mohair jumpers specifically.

Lyst’s December 2025 forecast listed “shearling, ribbed knits, bouclé, brushed wool, suede, and heavily slubbed cotton” among the textures to watch, and InStyle’s autumn 2025 round-up included cardigans in dyed mohair and bold patterns.

The single most talked-about knit was the quarter-zip jumper: CNN reported Lyst data showing global demand up 31% in the last quarter of 2025.

Look at the fibre label rather than assuming that mohair, cashmere or any other fibre guarantees warmth, softness or durability, and follow the care label when washing.

Wear: a navy or cream quarter-zip over a white Oxford shirt, khaki chinos and brown loafers; or a patterned jumper with plain dark trousers and a plain coat, so the pattern is the only bold note.

Looser jeans stayed common going into 2026, though some reporting already offered slimmer alternatives.

In CNN’s January report, END.’s Martin Wieczorek said the retailer was keeping loose-fit silhouettes while making the designs more minimal.

InStyle’s autumn 2025 round-up offered tight, cigarette-cut denim as the alternative for anyone who did not want oversized jeans, which shows how widespread the looser shape had become.

Wear: mid-wash relaxed straight jeans, a light blue Oxford shirt or a cream knit, a brown leather belt and loafers or plain white trainers.

Check the rise and the seat before the leg width: a relaxed jean should still sit comfortably at the waist without a gap at the back.

Rugby shirts, with their heavy cotton jersey, woven collar and broad stripes, came back into view.

CBC’s spring 2025 trend report, published on 23 May 2025, called it “the return of the rugby shirt” after the Copenhagen shows, where it was styled mainly in womenswear, and ASOS featured a rugby-style sweatshirt in its 2026 trend report.

Stripes in general were a runway theme: CBC’s Spring 2026 round-up described “stripes thin and wide” at Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Wales Bonner, Hermès and Dries Van Noten, among others.

Wear: a striped rugby shirt, white jeans or stone chinos, patterned socks and brown loafers; add a navy blazer for a smarter version.

British labels such as Hackett sell rugby shirts; our review asks whether Hackett is good quality.

The rugby shirt is also a staple of northern preppy style and of modern Old Money style.