Fall/ Winter Capsule for Men

The Key Fall/Winter Trends

Sweatpants

With the advent of athleisure, sweatpants have moved from the gym to casual wear. If the fall/winter show is any indication, sweatpants have moved on again and are now a staple piece of everyday wear.

Let’s face facts, the elasticated waistband has been one of the most important inventions of recent years. Dior made sure that almost all its models were dressed in sweatpants. They mixed them with overcoats and tailoring, as well as more casual garments such as bomber jackets.

Floral Prints

The trend of returning to the 70s is a recurring theme over the past five years and shows no signs of slowing down. It manifests in floral prints, a la grandma’s curtains, for the fall/winter season. This is actually much more wearable than it sounds. Paul Smith, Kenzo, and others have been doing it, adding bold florals to shorts, shirts, and tailoring.

We recommend keeping your statement pieces to one per outfit, and making sure the rest of your look is muted and nice.

Large checks

Checks are always in fashion. For the colder months of the year, Black Watch tartan and buffalo are the best choices. These patterns can be incorporated into your everyday wardrobe in many ways, but the easiest is to use them as a medium for an overshirt or flannel shirts.

All-Over Denim

Denim is one the most popular fabrics. It is durable and has lots of texture so it will likely make up a lot of your wardrobe in jean, jacket, or shirt form. We wouldn’t recommend wearing a whole look made of denim. Until we saw the fall/winter fashion shows.

A variety of brands, including Kenzo, which is now owned by Nigo, founder of A Bathing Ape, combined workwear pieces with dark indigo to make it look effortless. It’s best to wear it in a relaxed silhouette.

Parkas

This year, the parka may be our favorite coat. Parkas can be worn over almost anything, in either a fishtail-style mod style or one that is more appropriate for arctic exploration. Parkas can be worn to dress up or down tailored clothing, while contrasting with a blazer’s sleek lines.

For a streetwear-influenced look, try a black technical parka over sweatpants, a hoodie and your sneakers of choice.

Wide Legs

Slim-fits are no longer in fashion and skinny legwear has been discontinued. We are now seeing a return of relaxed-fitted pants from the 80s and 1990s and the 50s.

Many of us have been stuck in tight-fitting jeans for a good part of a decade. You might be surprised at how much you love a looser leg. It’s not only stylish, but also comfortable.

Tonal Tailoring

Fashion week’s top designers have reimagined the suit this season. Although tailoring has been replaced by casual wear, it is still very much in fashion.

Tonality is one of the easiest approaches to it. Virgil Abloh, the late Louis Vuitton designer, showed models wearing sea blue velvet and off white wool tailoring with matching shirts. We’ve also seen matching T-shirts in dark grey and navy blue with complementing knitwear.

Commando Soles

Men’s footwear trends have been affected by rugged, thick soles in recent years. This was evident at the fall/winter shows. The shoes they are stomped onto transform with chunky commando soles. Chelsea boots transform into fully-equipped winter stompers, while Penny loafers are subtle statements.

The added chunkiness also opens up your wardrobe options, allowing you to experiment with looser fittings and heavier layers.

Tech Jackets

Technical outerwear has been a major trend in fashion over the past few seasons. This trend will continue into the new year. It’s the cropped, zip up silhouettes that are taking center stage this season. They can be worn as a layer under your winter coat or as an easy way to add ballast and protection from the elements to your outfit.

The North Face, Canada Goose, Woolrich, and Woolrich will remain solid investments. However, you should also be looking out for smaller labels such as Crescent Down Works or Adsum as well as full-fledged outdoor brands such as Arc’teryx.