The Menswear Trends To Know

While the past couple of seasons have been dominated by the quiet luxury movement, that all seems to have changed for SS26. Colour and flamboyance are back. The Edwardian period has been revisited. And power shoulders became the red thread that ran through many a big-name designers’ debut collection (namely Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta and Dario Vitale at Versace). Elsewhere? We’re being encouraged to get our toes out next summer (thank Jonathan Bailey).

This is everything you need to know about SS26 menswear.

The Spring/Summer 2026 shows, as is custom, cater to the warmer months. But did we really expect to see quite so many flip flops on the catwalks? Well, yes actually. After Jonathan Bailey wore a pair of The Row flip flops on his Jurassic World press tour earlier this year, thus causing a Great Menswear Debate, we half expected it to be the next big trend. And it is. From toes out at Prada, where thong-y footwear was the shoe du jour, to Dries Van Noten and Yohji Yamamoto, flip flops are in. At Balmain, flip-flops were given a boho edge and paired with flowy trousers and cargo pants. Just make sure you get a decent manicure before going sockless…

After a couple of seasons where it seemed like short shorts may have been falling behind Bermudas and baggier iterations of cut-offs, we have good news: they are back with a sexy vengeance. Dries Van Noten, which saw a debut collection presented and designed by Julian Klausner, had embellished micro shorts front and centre. Acne Studios had ‘50s-vibing shorts paired up with tucked in tight polo shirts and cardigans, while similarly Emporio Armani served thigh-high shorts. Meanwhile over at Prada and Tom Ford, shorts were barely there in the sexiest, most overt leg flashing outings. At Lanvin, Peter Copping presented leather shorts that fell mid-thigh with oversized buckled jackets. The trick to getting the trend right? Wear the tiniest shorts proudly and emphasise the fact you’re wearing them by tucking in your top half.

British designer Louise Trotter made her debut at Bottega Veneta this season and what a debut it was. Shoulders were strong and broad throughout the collection, notably on powerful leather coats. A sensibility we saw across the board, with an American Gigilo-ification of shoulders, with Armani-esque top halves doing the rounds. Versace, which saw a strong debut from Dario Vitale, put out power-shouldered suits. At Armani, Nineties-era power shoulders were matched with equally strong lapels. Charaf Tajer, founder and creative lead at Casablanca, put models in ice blue suits comprising razor-sharp, exaggerated shouldered blazers and trousers.

We’ve been living through an intense period of minimalism, where black, cream and navy (we thank The Row for this) have ruled the menswear roost. But now, the colour drought is over, and things are getting pretty freaky. Not just content in being doused in colour, designers went hue-clashing-crazy this season. Versace was where it was most evident, with teal shell jackets paired up with lilac slacks, and coral trousers juxtaposed with magenta leather jackets.

At Celine, where American designer and Ralph Lauren alum Micheal Rider presented his first collection, a preppy line-up of clothing was cut through with pops of clashing colours - evergreen, scarlet and cobalt - marking a change from the previous collections under Hedi Slimane’s helm. At Burberry, a brand so imbedded with earthy hues of camel and brown, punchy colour became a key indicator of a brighter 2026. Daniel Lee’s leather trench jackets came in bold pink, while yellow leather suits stood alongside mustard parka coats worn with green scarves. At Jil Sander, which has a new creative director in the form of former Bally designer Simone Bellotti, colour was presented in a minimal, Bauhaus sort of way, with colour-blocked knits in red and blue.

Perhaps the strongest trend across the men’s collections, Ivy League prep was dominant in all the major cities. At Celine, Rider gave us a nod to classic Americana (with French flair) and striped collegiate ties that looked as though they’d been taken from the very corridors of Yale and Brown, were worn with baggy denim and scarlet blazers. Jumpers were slung over the shoulders of professors like overcoats. Vivienne Westwood took a playful approach to old-school prep, delivering a subverted look at tailoring by way of short suits and bold ties. At BOSS, the brand presented loosely-knotted lemon-hued ties worn with grey suits in a just-left-school sort of way, while in the majority of looks they were left completely undone and carefree.

Meanwhile at Dolce&Gabbana, suits came in those same collegiate stripes you’d associate with the pages of every fashion guy’s favourite book Take Ivy, an exploration of prep through photographs shot on the campuses of America's elite. Elsewhere in Italy, Fendi served a collection imbued with prepster aesthetics: collegiate-striped ties in mint and forest green were worn tight over shirts and juxtaposed playing field football knits. At Ami Paris, preppy lace-up Derbies were paired with schoolboy-vibing shorts, shirts and neckerchiefs, and, elsewhere, V-neck sweaters were worn over T-shirts.

Designers love throwing it back to bygone eras, and for Spring/Summer 2026 the Edwardian age got its call up. At Craig Green and Kenzo, Edwardian braided jackets were an evident inspiration. Jonathan Anderson and Kenzo designer Nigo offered more pointed takes on the jackets that became popular in the 1895-1905 era, while Green’s were more contemporary and abstract in their design, with cuts of fabric acting as the braided bridges across the chest. What’s triggered this? Nobody can be sure why there’s a newfound obsession with fashion’s gilded age, but it might have something to do with the oncoming flurry of period dramas such as Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein. Y2K? Never heard of her.