Today’s man is multi-faceted, adapting to an era that encourages the questioning of our lifestyles, as well as our relationships with the body and with others. He embraces a much more transversal identity, he is comfortable with his feminine side, and he plays with the virile character of a classic style.
Indeed, this modern man defined Men’s Fashion Week this season, finding strength in inversion and style in authenticity. The overarching themes of the month have been determined by our experts at Heuritech, who picked through FW22’s new collections and catwalks to frame this year’s Fall/Winter fashion.
Each theme consists of a web of trends which create each aesthetic, and we’ve included two trends per theme here. Our downloadable report includes many more, available further down in the article. The three themes are:
- New Age Explorer
- Youthful Irreverence
- Dapper Dandy
New Age Explorer, a discovery of fresh menswear trends
The first theme, the New Age Explorer, represents an evolution of the Gorpcore subculture that has been at the forefront of fashion’s imagination for a couple of years now.
Brands combined disparate elements of outdoor culture this season, drawing inspiration from anything and everything involving adventure, ranging from aviation to camping to climbing.
Lookbooks shot in nature, or défilés incorporating elements of the environment were common this season, reinforcing the exploratory attitude that many brands took for FW22.
Let’s have a look at two trends in the New Age Explorer theme, chosen from nearly a dozen in our full report.
1. Marled knit
Knitwear is a guaranteed staple for winter, and for next season the runways have clearly pushed a Marled Knit pattern. We predict an increase in visibility of +<1% in Winter 2022 versus last year, indicating a greater volume of Marled Knit across social media images. Mainly mixing neutral tones, focusing on earthy shades, these sweaters appeared in multiple shapes, including cardigans, loose turtlenecks and oversized V-necks.
The print has a medium magnitude for Winter 2022, indicating a medium market demand for the upcoming season. While the marled pattern is already well-known on the market, our data predicts edgy and trendy audiences — consumers tuned in to emerging styles — to be the main consumers of this trend in FW22.
2. Snow boots
Fashion-forward consumers are now mixing their urban style with utilitarian products. Therefore, Snow Boots are no longer an exclusive item for winter sports; the silhouette has evolved with added features like thick laces, track soles, and zip pockets, fitted to the urban outdoors.
While our product insights reveal that Snow Boots will decrease slightly by -2% in visibility for Winter ‘22 compared to Winter ‘21, their prominent appearance in the collections of major brands such as Loewe, Sacai, and Isabel Marant will propel it to be extremely popular among edgy and trendy customers next season.
The Youthful Irreverence of FW22 fashion
Next, we have the Youthful Irreverence theme. The ubiquity of social media, particularly amongst the “very online” youth, has emboldened many men to express themselves more freely through fashion, finding refuge in online communities of like-minded people. This freedom of expression has rendered styling combinations that would previously be considered “weird” the norm.
Indeed, stylistically, the Youthful Irreverence theme is embodied through a sense of absurdity, ranging from ironic text printed on garments, to irreverent styling choices, like a suit worn with nothing underneath except for exposed boxers. For this theme, we’ve chosen two from the ten trends in the report, elaborated below.
1. Pink
Gender norms have been dissolving in fashion for several years now, so it isn’t surprising to see Pink appearing in the colors of menswear collections. The color has been popular for both men and women over several seasons already, with outerwear being a popular application for Pink this season.
The visibility of the color is predicted to increase only slightly by +<1% on social media by Winter ‘22 compared to last year, but its big magnitude makes it a Safe Bet, signaling to brands that Pink is a reliable trend to include in upcoming collections. Moreover, the color is most popular amongst the trendy consumer segment.
2. Mary Janes
Mary Jane shoes may not be so groundbreaking for a female audience, but spotting them worn by men on the runway was a breath of fresh air.
Fendi presented us with beautifully crafted, delicate shoes, while JW Anderson and Comme des Garçons created a heavier version of the silhouette with chunky outer soles.
These shoes have our hearts as they play into our nostalgia, and with the FW ‘22 collections indicating that Mary Janes could potentially become the next “it” shoe for menswear, we can’t wait to see it appear in streetstyle.
Sophistication is trending for the Dapper Dandy
Finally, as the name suggests, the theme of Dapper Dandy describes a soft approach to dressing that defined, in part, the FW22 menswear shows. We’ll be looking at two trends in this theme, and the rest are unfolded in our Men’s FW Report. The aesthetic recalls the historical Dandy figure; a male archetypal aesthete, self-fashioned in an elegant, aristocratic manner.
Remnants of the modern Dandy were palpable at the Fendi show, which designer Silvia Fendi describes as being a celebration of “the classic wardrobe with which you are dressing for occasions”. Davi Paris, Casablanca, Erdem, and Jil Sander all focused on an elegant sensibility for the FW22 season, albeit through the prism of their respective brand DNAs.
1. Velvet
Velvet is a sophisticated, tactile fabric that appeared frequently during these Fall/Winter Fashion Weeks. This season, deep blue green colorways were a common version of the fabric, used primarily for corduroy pants and outerwear.
The fabric is predicted to experience a +4% increase on social media by Winter ‘22 compared to last year, along with a medium magnitude. Velvet is deemed a Safe Bet for a Winter ‘22 collection, and is most popular amongst the trendy and edgy consumer segments.
2. Belted Coat
Belted outerwear is an ideal way to create an hourglass silhouette for the FW season, appearing in several collections throughout Men’s Fashion Week.
The trend was the star silhouette of the Prada show, while other brands like Jil Sander and Zegna utilized unexpected materials like silk scarves or chains as belts to create the cinched look.
The Belted Coat is expected to slightly decrease by -6% on social media by Winter ‘22 compared to last year, with a medium magnitude making the trend a Safe Bet. Moreover, the Belted Coat is most often worn by edgy men, as perhaps the silhouette is too feminine for the trendy and mainstream audience.
Fashion Week FW22: Boundless menswear
This season, the world of fashion once again invites us to deeply question our world and the very essence of individuality. Instead of standardization, the FW22 Fashion Weeks offer each man the opportunity to powerfully embody an axis of contemporary masculinity by opening up the field of possibilities and proposing enthusiastic alternatives.
With the help of data-backed market and product insights, our experts encapsulated each major theme, once again defined as:
- New Age Explorer: Brands combined vintage outdoor references with contemporary sportswear from a futuristic point-of-view, giving the gorpcore aesthetic a twist for FW22.
- Youthful Irreverence: Looks in this theme featured bright colors, absurdist humor, and an anything goes approach to styling.
- Dapper Dandy: This archetype was embodied by an abundance of fur, hourglass silhouettes, and an infusion of feminine codes into the masculine vestiaire this season.
