The turning tides of menswear and masculinity itself kept fashion fans hooked during a brief yet brilliant FW26 season across Pitti Uomo, Milan, and Paris. Here are all the trends from Menswear Fall Winter 2026-27.
The week at a glance
Classicism with technical rigour against the buoyancy of boyish shapes and color defined a menswear season that might be otherwise best known for coinciding with the Saks Global bankruptcy filing. The news loomed like a raincloud over the brands owed millions, and the emerging labels hoping to catch the eye of bigwig buyers.
Or perhaps it’ll be the season known for Prada’s enlarged coffee-stained cuffs and Dior’s highlighter yellow mullets and sequin tank tops. Out of context, that sentence might seem satirical for the world’s most influential clothing makers, but it is the satirisation of menswear online – performative males, ‘fashion bros’ – that has been a precursor for the audience ahead of this brain-tingling fall-winter season.
The question being, where is menswear, and in turn, masculinity, really headed? A Vogue article pointed out the feminisation of menswear trends and the rise of subtle shape shifts, including barrel leg pants, up 243% year-on-year for men’s arrivals in-store and online in 2025. Meanwhile, the season’s abundance of heritage pieces and return to tailoring latches on to growing political conservatism and cohorts embracing old values of masculinity, mirroring themes seen during the womenswear SS26 season.
In terms of global menswear, the market is shifting as demand for ready-to-wear surges, thanks to the growing number of fashion-led Gen Z and millennials influencing purchasing patterns. Casual wear and athleisure currently dominates sales with 53% of the market share. However, in runway land, there is the obvious shift away from streetwear to a sort of modern academia, led by Dior, Ralph Lauren, and Zegna, and best noted by Pinterest, which coined it ‘poet core’ – characterized by messenger bags, oversized knits, and corduroy.
If you're demand planning and forecasting for next winter, corduroy and velvet make up key fabrics for the upcoming season, and according to Particl, the average revenue of velvet has risen by 244% over the last 12 months. The Pitti Uomo crowd even gave way to the resurgence of heritage accessories in the form of fashionable scarves, berets, and pageboy caps - perfect cord accompaniments.
And, while there was plenty of suiting featuring relaxed drapery and oversized fits, there was an obvious lean to trimmer, slimmed-down silhouettes in tailoring, in the denim fits exemplified at Dior, and in the tubular, streamlined coats seen hugging the models at Prada and Dries Van Noten, to name a few. According to Heuritech, there's set to be a rise in social media visibility of men's outerwear with a fitted waist (+9%), straight-fit outerwear (+4%), and slim-fit tops (+2%) for FW26.
This season, however, it might be prudent to pay attention to the shapes, cuts, and colors of the Zegna collection; the label is the largest luxury men’s fashion brand by revenue, generating €1.16 billion last year, which makes it the menswear equivalent of Chanel.
Runway highlights
There was no shortage of creativity and sartorial nous on the runways, as brands further recognised the lift in attention to men’s high fashion. Simon Porte Jacquemus commented post-show that in his own stores, menswear is now as large a business as womenswear. The independent French designer showed his collection at the close of the week, complete with slim-fitting tuxedos and smoking jackets, and structural pieces in homage to Paloma Picasso.
Jonathan Anderson’s second Dior runway flipped and reversed the aristocratic youths he portrayed in his debut, to conjure children of the revolution in eccentric sequins, novelty-sized parkas, slim jeans, and, of course, numerous iterations on the Bar jacket. Prada’s mind-bending spree of twig silhouettes, enlarged shirt cuffs, and roughed-up tops and outerwear delivered the brand’s most visually arresting outings for some seasons. The scoop neck knits in Raf and Miuccia’s collection were echoed at the Saint Laurent show by Anthony Vaccarello. The designer went for a more muted display in mostly black and browns, bringing with it the dipped-waist blazers seen all over Paris.
Resoundingly, editors and buyers lauded the Willy Chavarria outing, a fittingly joyous occasion, one in stark contrast to his sombre Sunday service last season, where the infiltrations of ICE began to rock the Latin American community. Who says fashion isn’t political? One buyer commented to Women’s Wear Daily that the strong presence of Latino designers in Paris, notably through Willy Chavarria, Patricio Campillo, and Guillermo Andrade of 424, is shifting the fashion conversation.
The Armani legacy continued, not just in the label’s own collection, but throughout the season, where designers leaned into fluid one-button blazers, pleated trousers, Nehru and mandarin jackets, and high smocking collars. In fact, where a lot of brands went with stand collars and Mao silhouettes, others just simply flipped the collars skywards to seemingly protect the neck from the cold, or to project a certain je ne sais quois.
Véronique Nichanian staged her final show for Hermès, which was refreshingly free of overt nostalgia, most likely because the pieces are so timeless; they simply work together season after season. Grace Wales Bonner has the luxury of time for her Hermès men’s debut as incoming creative director, set to show a year from now.
Thinking about those upcoming forecasts for your core lines? It looks set to be a soft season; according to WWD, knitwear remains key to the assortment, with buyers looking to go deep in this category, and keep trend-led pieces - that don’t resonate in the wardrobe of now - at bay. They’re looking to invest more deeply in outerwear, leather, and refined tailoring, while pulling back from logo-heavy pieces and novelty streetwear.
The trends
And now, the major trends from the Menswear Fall Winter 2026-27 runway season.
Future vintage knits
Cable-knitted, fair-isle, printed, and quarter-zipped; the humble, cosy, and comforting vintage-style knit isn’t exactly groundbreaking for winter, but its easy lean into fun maximalism and eccentricity highlights its eligibility for the FW26 wardrobe. Chunky and textured pull-overs, patterned vests, and plush cardigans are set to take centre stage for cool-weather outfitting, a trend which speaks to Pinterest’s ‘poet core’ prediction, where menswear looks to the intellectualism and refinement of bygone eras. Dries Van Noten by Julian Klausner executed this best with his deft use of color in retro stripes, shrunken vests, chevron patterns, and oversized rollnecks.
Checking in
Checked shirts, plaid jackets, and herringbone and Prince of Wales woollen suits were abundant across collections, and made sleek and modern in more structured, monochrome or tonal executions. According to Heuritech, checks are kicking off a print-heavy 2026, with muted and tone-on-tone checks offering a gentlemanly composure updated for now. Heritage camel browns and greys took preference across Ralph Lauren, Dior, and Zegna. Hed Mayner and Sacai played with length and proportion, while Prada’s ‘messy’ menswear collection showed checks peaking out of seemingly ripped and worn jackets and coats.
Spiced reds
As menswear looks to up its maximalist tendencies, the best way is to start with a jolt of color. Amongst the greys, blacks, and browns of the more suited and simplistic collections, spicy, tangy, and tactile reds made their way through full looks and individual garments as a refreshing color pop. Joining mustard yellow and cobalt blue as one of the key accent colors for the season, the hot reds and bordeauxs acted as authoritative blazers, sat perfectly on velvet and corduroy at Amiri and Etudes Studio, and offered striking knit statements at Prada and Auralee.
Nip-tuck tailoring
In the vein of 1930s power suiting and sportscoats, the tailoring seen on the runways was, in part, lax and louche – with an abundance of slacks, wrap-front and pleated trousers – but mostly, the suit jackets were trimmed down in comparison to the heavy shoulder of previous seasons. Both single and double-breasted blazers and coats were dipped in at the waist for a shaped and refined silhouette. The suits also came with their very own attitude; a key styling trend this season has been hands shoved into trouser pockets, encapsulating a certain irreverence, like the hat-tip or smoking cigar of yesteryear.
The weatherman
The men’s collections appear to have progressed in their obsession with the great outdoors and extreme weather to begin weaving utility rain jackets, belted and hooded trench coats, weather-bound macs, and a distinct presence of capelets and ponchos. We’ve seen the reemergence of frog buttons and fireman closures on outerwear over the past few seasons, so brands cottoning on to the literal raincoat came as no surprise. A very Raf Simons Prada show debuted downpour-ready capelets in very slender silhouettes, as well as utility sports jackets that were often tightly wound at the waist.
Ready to start planning for the year ahead? Here's how buyers and merchandisers can use data to boost results this season.
Image credits: WWD, Vogue Runway, Tagwalk, V Magazine
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