Statement cuffs, a sea of grey suits and more strong style trends from Fall 2026 Men’s Fashion Week

I was walking near the Fondazione Prada with the photographer Jonathan Daniel Pryce before Prada’s Fall 2026 show when he remarked that “with the infinite possibilities of the universe, isn’t it fascinating that a bunch of people get together to celebrate things that we put on our bodies?” It felt particularly poignant to me, considering the dissonance between fashion week and everything happening in the world — beautiful clothes against a backdrop of uncertainty.

A few seasons ago, the menswear shows at Paris Fashion Week were tinged with anticipation for the 2024 Olympic Games, which were only a few weeks away. I wondered if the same would be true in Milan this season, with the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina set to take place in February. But no, there was no distraction, and that was an overarching theme from Florence to Milan to Paris: less pomp and circumstance, less reliance on branding and logos — just a focus on good clothes.

But what were the throughlines of these said clothes? We’ve picked out five trends to take away from the Fall 2026 menswear shows and to bear in mind as you tweak your wardrobe for the coming months.

Suits of grey 

Grey flannel suiting was once the most popular style of dress for men. Think Mad Men or The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and the uniform for a mid-century man with a corporate job. Thom Browne has built an empire recreating that look, but with cropped silhouettes in all sorts of grey wool. Well, for Fall 2026, there will be no shortage of grey suits for those who prefer a fit other than Thom Browne’s. 

In Florence, Pitti Uomo invited recent LVMH Prize winner Soshi Otsuki to be a guest designer, and his collection showcased the look he’s been celebrated for with his eponymous label. With Armani influences filtered through the lens of a Japanese salaryman, the suits bore luscious drapey tailoring that called to mind the ’90s more than it did the Mad Men era.

On the runway at Prada in Milan, there was grey wool to be seen in tailored coats, trousers and more textured suits; and grey wool featured at Paul Smith, too, via a flecked grey jacket, a peak-lapel jacket and classic charcoal-grey suits. 

In Paris, there seemed to be grey suits every which way you looked: a double-breasted ensemble to open the Ami show; versions deconstructed and remade into new garments entirely at Sacai; a grey smoking jacket at Junya Watanabe; grey jackets with peak lapels at Dior; frumpy suits embellished with stitches, and trousers at Kolor; and plaid at Walter Van Beirendonck.

Perhaps in these uncertain times, designers are leaning on the sense of safety grey tailoring imparts. 

Patina, well-worn

There’s a point when an object goes from looking used up to having a patina. And that patina’s faded colours and interesting patterns can’t be replicated and are admired in menswear: it’s why old Barbour jackets get passed down and why people swear by raw denim. 

For Fall 2026, brands both manufactured patina — and the potential for it.

For instance, at Prada, there were coats peeling in sections to reveal houndstooth underneath. It wasn’t trompe l’oeil; rather, the pieces were designed already eroded. The irony of dirty cuffs and stained fabrics worked into shirting, outerwear and tailoring was much discussed. Whether the pieces will be sold pre-stained remains to be seen, but it certainly sent a message.

Soshiotsuki’s suits featured curling lapels, as if they’d been found in a thrift store, worn to the point of altering the shape of the garment itself. Hed Mayner showed Reebok sneakers that had been boiled and warped to give them a lived-in look.

Ralph Lauren, arguably the king of patina, showed distressed, paint-stained jeans and a leather jacket with burnished shoulders. Zegna, meanwhile, took a more philosophical approach, presenting the collection as pieces that had been handed down from founder Gildo Zegna to members of the family (more on this in a bit), with real, well-worn pieces from the Zegna family’s closet displayed in the showroom.

In Paris, at Louis Vuitton, Pharrell’s collection was curiously bereft of monogram and damier. It was later revealed that we’d witnessed the debut of Ghost, a new monogram that will become visible as the pieces are worn in; its patina, engineered.

That ’70s season

At Zegna, the ’70s influence was palpable in the show’s theme: clothes passed down from Gildo Zegna to his family, now reimagined for customers. There were big woven leather buttons, longer-cut versions of the label’s famous Conte jackets, thick shadow stripes, long pointed collars and a palette of muddy colours. 

A few days later, Paul Smith showed a number of pieces rooted in the ’70s as well, including plaid Harrington jackets, suits with well-padded shoulders, and pockets with large flaps.

Shirts bearing the year 1976 were on the runway in Paris at Amiri, as were ’70s-style tailored jackets, some leather, some with bold piping that would have been popular around that time. At Dries Van Noten, Julian Klausner followed up his blockbuster debut show with a collection rich in ’70s-style patterns and all-over prints and cinched silhouettes that wouldn’t have been out of place in the costume department of That ’70s Show. 

In lieu of staging a show this season, Nigo presented his Fall 2026 collection for Kenzo in the former house of the brand’s namesake, Kenzō Takada. It was a return to the brand’s roots after a few scattershot seasons. This collection felt more well-rounded and wearable, with a number of pieces inspired by Takada’s early designs from when he launched the brand in … 1970. 

Cuffing season

When I saw the first look of the Prada show, I thought the coat pockets had been embellished with faux shirt cuffs. But they were, in fact, shirt cuffs, made extra long and angular — and stained. More followed in all sorts of colours and patterns, sticking out from short, tight cropped sleeves on jackets. Sacai’s collection, shown on the last day in Paris, likewise featured visually important cuffs, albeit not stained.

In Paris, Jonathan Anderson’s Dior show was a shock to the system, veering from the established image of Dior as one of the more chic luxury houses to show an edgy collection infused with some of Anderson’s signature Instabait. Case in point were cartoonishly large fur cuffs, worn under brocade capes and with wool coats. 

At Auralee, a green knit sweater seemed to be worn for the express purpose of providing a pop of colour at the cuff; as the model paraded down the runway with his hands stuffed in his pockets, the green of the sweater — styled under a leather bomber jacket — immediately caught the eye. 

But if there was one collection that cemented the idea that cuffs are the accessory we didn’t know we needed, it was one that wasn’t even on the runway. At the Celine head office, Michael Rider presented a men’s collection that had industry insiders raving. “It was joyous — I didn’t want to leave,” the photographer Tommy Ton told me. There were bold, primary colours, stacks of sweaters and denim, shoes snaking across the floor, and plenty of shirt and sweater cuffs poking out, a touch that made the outfits look lived-in. 

And if you can’t find extra-long sleeves with exaggerated cuffs, take a page from Ralph Lauren’s and Hermès’s playbook: find a jacket with a colourful lining and simply roll the cuff ever so slightly. 

Aligned with pinstripes

A season ago, I pinpointed stripes of all kinds as a trend to earmark for Spring 2026. This season, it was the pinpoint stripe that was predominant. 

Véronique Nichanian’s final collection as the artistic director of the Hermès men’s universe was punctuated by crisp pinstripes on blue wool tailoring, top-stitched onto a leather suit, on shirting and shackets, and even running down a luscious shearling set. 

There were also pinstripes at KidSuper, Juun.J, Amiri and Junya Watanabe — on trousers, jeans, coats, jackets and suits. At Kartik Research, patches of pinstripe fabric were applied to trousers, which also added a patina to the look.

A few days prior to the barrage of Parisian pinstripes, Setchu showed thin stripes on jackets, trousers and a suit, while the first Giorgio Armani collection since the death of the brand’s namesake included sumptuous velour tailoring enlivened with pinstripes. 

Pinstripes are timeless, and this season is proof that something timeless can still have a moment.