Looking for more of the freakiest, flyest men’s fashion trends 2025 has in store? Swing by our New Arrivals shop, and then check out what our editors are buying right now.
The trend cycle moves at a breakneck clip, and keeping up can be a royal headache. From runway to social media, the fashion cognoscente to the millions of microtrends, the whiplash is real. It’s a good thing we’ve got the cure. Below, you’ll find a not-quite-comprehensive list of all the weirdest, wildest menswear moves we’re itching to make this season—along with a handful of brands doing them best—hand-picked by the GQ Recommends squad.
To predict the can’t-miss men’s fashion trends 2025 has in store, we scour runway stills, street style shots, and our very own mood boards to make sense of where the state of our highly specific union is headed next. Are these the only things we’re going to wear for the next six months straight? Probably not. But they’re definitely the only things we want to wear right this very minute.
As we enter spring, we’re predicting a forecast of funky layers from Nana-approved cardigans to ‘90s-era windbreakers. While simple striped button-ups continue to have a chokehold on our closets, we also expect to see the humble Tartan plaid coming back to the forefront. We’re not ready to pronounce the death of the loafer, but we are seeing a shift in footwear in the form of ultra sleek, paper thin sneakers. But that’s just the tip of the trendy iceberg.
The Spring Trends Hit List
Torpedo Shoes
Sleek, slim, and aerodynamic, what we call torpedo shoes will contininue to add momentum against the chunky shoe agenda. From Puma to Prada, the paper-thin sneakers will bring fashion lovers back down to earth, paired with wide-legged trousers, big shorts, and even bigger jeans. Oftentimes, torpedo sneakers are designed to be unstructured and crushable, further separating it from the over-the-top energy of Gen-Z. —Gerald Ortiz
Wooshing Windbreakers
Windbreakers are having a moment this year with fashion fiends rushing to get their hands on the swishy, nylon outerwear. Whether it’s tapping into your inner track coach or sprinkling some classic sportswear into your daily fits, the light shell is primed for the unpredictable whims of spring. —GO
Voluminous Totes
Jackets, tees and sneakers might be getting smaller, but somehow, at the very same time, totes are flying in the other direction. Which is handy for your return to the farmer’s market, and carrying that light back-up jacket for when the sun goes down. —Louis Cheslaw
Little Denim Jackets
Denim jackets become extra relevant every spring, but this year they feel even more so. Call it the general dominance of denim these days, or the fact that no other item straddles workwear and style as confidently—either way, this season’s trending cuts tend to be a little more cropped, and closer to the body. Which, we should note, can also be achieved by just ordering a size down. —LC
Mellow Yellow
Typically, men’s and women’s color trends orbit each other but don’t land at quite the same time. Not this year! This spring, designers across the binary are dishing up buttery yellow basics to help you match those blooming daffodils and buttercups in your neighborhood. —LC
Freaky Officewear
Begrudgingly headed back to the office and looking to subvert your corporate dress code? There’s a swath of labels tapping into a quiet office rebellion with traditional suiting fabrics cut into offbeat silhouettes or classic button-ups made with curiously punk details. Think frayed seams, stretched-out proportions, and tricked-out colors. —GO
Clasps on Fire
I’m seeing classic styles—peacoats, truckers, waxed jackets–get updated with clasps reminiscent of vintage fireman jackets. (Mfpen has a beautiful, denim fireman clasp jacket dropping in a couple of months.) I dig it. The simple change gives a workwear edge to more formal pieces, meaning you can still enjoy the classic style’s functionality, but without the associations that come with, say, a big Barbour zip, or some giant rounded peacoat buttons. There are some very special finds on eBay and Depop, but here are a few if you want to go new. —LC
Crewneck Cardigans
There’s plenty of swervy knitwear moves you can make right now, but the best one this season is the most simple. The rise of the crewneck cardigan is here, and like the demure assurance of a grandmother, it can support your fits like no other sweater can. The simple tweak of the neckline gives you more occasions to wear them than your standard cardi, whether open or buttoned all the way up for a purposeful take on the classic crewneck sweater. You don’t have to add pearls, but we wouldn’t be mad if ya did. —Michael Nolledo
Tartan Dress Shirts
Solid and striped dress shirts are always a safe bet with a suit or sport coat, sure. Get some plaid in the mix, though, and suddenly you’re Redford in All the President’s Men or Wes Anderson in any era—a little rumpled and professorial, ready to roll up your sleeves, loosen your tie, and get to goddamn work. —Yang-Yi Goh
Razor-Thin Eyewear
Thanks to a revival of the ‘90s and early-2000s, we’ve seen plenty of trends come back into vogue. And while the eras were no stranger to bug-eyed, thick-framed sunnies, we’re seeing featherlight, ultra-thin eyewear make a resurgence. Rather than Kurt Cobain’s infamous ivory goggles, it’s the rimless glasses rocked by E-40 or the razor-then metal shades that were so integral to the style of The Matrix. —GO
Little Pins
The newest frontier in the whole “Men wearing more jewelry” universe? Broaches and pins. Drew Starkey’s been rocking a simple pin, Jacob Elordi has a fun frog on his lapels, Kendrick’s in on the action… hell, the entire Oscars red carpet was a glinting wonderland. The joy of wearing this style? Like all jewelry, it can be removed and added to any of the existing fits in your rotation.—LC
More Trends for the Rest of 2025
We first came out with our highly accurate trend predictions at the beginning of the year. And while we trust that our team of menswear Nostradamuses are infinitely wise, we may not see every fortune told until the season is ripe. But mark our words, these are the rest of the trends you can expect to see for the rest of the year.
Cuffless Beanies
For more than a decade, cuffed beanies have dominated the male dome. This has inspired starter pack memes and endless rips into the stereotypical tiny beanie guy who rocks a thick mustache, itsy tattoos, and a tote bag. But we’re finally seeing a shift toward more streamlined, low-profile alternatives. Say hello to a brave new, cuffless beanie world. Brands like Arc’teryx have shone a light on the skull cap agenda and with guys like Timotheé Chalamet and Central Cee on board, we don’t envision the trend going away any time soon. —GO
Bootcut Jeans
When I tried the new, chocolate Our Legacy bootcut jeans on at Dover Street Market, my world reordered itself a little. Had weighing up slim versus wider leg jeans been a waste of time? Here, after all, was the best of both. Slim in the leg and thigh, but with flow and drape from the knee down, bootcuts do a little bit of all of it. And now that Timmy and Kendrick alike are celebrating denim that grows as it lowers, I’d say the train has left the station. —LC
Zippy Sweaters
Zippers and sweaters are an uneasy alliance to be sure—snags are catastrophic in the teeth of a zipper and the mechanisms by which they’re affixed to knitwear are often tenuous. I don’t care about any of these things, though, and it seems like others agree with that sentiment—zip cardigans are popping up in the wild in place of the button kind, track jackets, quarter-zips and the like with increasing frequency. And while it might be uneasy, the alliance is fruitful: when the zipper is bulky or shiny, it contrasts a knit in a more dramatic (re: interesting) way than buttons do, and when it’s low-profile, the placket fades away to an extent that buttons simply can’t. (I’ve been wearing an old one for two months and can’t stop.) —Reed Nelson
Slouchier Sweats
Joggers are dead. The sweatpants that killed ’em are cut more like Y2K-doused jeans: big, baggy, and with hems that spill over sneakers, slip-ons, and—if you’re a diehard Saint Laurent buff—kicky boots. If your trousers already worship at the altar of Armani’s louche heyday, making the jump should be cinch. —Avidan Grossman
Pants With a Literal Twist
What could possibly be in store for the big pants agenda in 2025? Instead of worrying about fit, you should think about construction. And if there’s one thing to keep a close eye on, it’s pants with twisted seams. Delinquent seams—whether curling around the front or back of the leg—have all the makings of enjoying a breakout year: They’re an approachable touch of roughed-up freak with a healthy dose of Y2K nostalgia. If you’re looking for your next swerve, go curved. —MN
Rough Rings
Shiny silver has been getting more and more scuffed up, and with retailers like SSENSE and Harrod’s stocking up on designers like The Ouze, I don’t see it stopping. It tracks to me—I’d never worn jewelry before as I didn’t want to attract that kind of glinty attention, but have loved the rougher pieces I’ve picked up over the last few months. —LC
Gentlemanly Gorp
If round one of Gorpcore was all about technical fabrics, round two is for guys who no longer want to just be outdoors. They want to be outdoors in fabrics that their great, great, grandfather could have worn. If he was, say, an Austrian shepherd. I’m talking corduroy, boiled wool, felt, fleece. No ‘-Tex’ in the mix. —LC
Cowichan Knits
For well over a century, Indigineous craftspeople hailing from the Cowichan territory of Vancouver Island have been knitting their namesake sweaters: brawny shawl-collar cardigans built to battle the British Columbian chill. You can still cop the genuine article from traditional knitters like Kanata, though these days there are plenty of updated interpretations to choose from—like Faiz T.S.’s bomber jacket hybrid or Haven’s blacked-out banger. —YYG
Bulked-Up Boat Shoes
Boat shoes roared back in the past couple of years, so I understand that declaring any vertical of the polarizing style to be “back” or “trending” isn’t all that helpful. But within the category, the bulkier, more sturdy, more structural ones are infinitely more interesting—and more utilitarian—than the classic two-eye, flat-soled iterations. As such, I’m seeing them everywhere, worn with everything, in every context. Maybe this one is less of a trend and more of a mainstreaming, but either way it’s happening. —RN
Clean, Crisp, Raw Denim
In the years since the last raw denim renaissance, we’ve seen bold blue jeans trends from threadbare shredded options to tripped-out colorways to overdyes and acid washes. But 2025 will be a reset back into a cleaner, simpler aesthetic. We’ll incorporate the unadulterated, deep, inky indigo back into our wardrobe to anchor every outfit. We may not be approaching it like the selvedge-obsessed fade-it-yourself denimheads did back in the 2010s. Instead, it’ll be more of a sobering up or a denim detox. —GO
Tiny Tickers
One of the best things I bought this year was a teeny-tiny Seiko bracelet watch from the ’70s, which is definitely more bracelet than watch and all the better for it. It’s a women’s model, but I have dainty wrists—and these days, the gals are beating the guys at their own game, anyway. If the coos of delight my new watch-let elicits are any indication, small watches will only be getting bigger in 2025. —AG
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