Menswear Trends Spotted on the Street

The men are carrying bags. It's moved beyond a novel piece of accessorization to a mainstay element of the wardrobes of those in the know. More than just a half-empty tote bag from a store you once visited, these bags have heft, structure and intention.

Bright red has been a strong contender for menswear's favorite color for a hot minute now. At and around the shows this past month the tone has shown up both faded and vivid as a styling technique within layers of neutral tones, moving beyond its previous use as an accessory-based color punctuation.

With the autumnal turn in the air, layers returning and a general feeling of the summer’s intensity abating, we’re once again able to play with textural pieces that are frankly only appropriate once the temperature drops below 70 degrees.

Historically, this sort of texture has been reserved for the obvious cold-weather players — chunky knits, corduroy, shearling and suede — but this season it feels broader, with tactile fabrics being used to give even the simplest looks a little more depth.

More specifically, the slogans on the sort of hat that feels as though it has a story attached to it: a faded logo, a tourist-shop reference, a destination emblazoned across the front. They introduce a little irreverence without demanding too much attention. The best examples feel personal rather than precious — the kind of hat you might have picked up somewhere years ago and have somehow found their way into the rotation.

Few menswear pieces have travelled through quite as many subcultures as the plaid shirt. Punk, grunge, Americana, prep, workwear — it has belonged to all of them at one point or another, which is perhaps why its return feels less like the revival of a particular aesthetic and more like the return of an icon.

From broad rugby-style bands to finer Breton references, horizontal stripes are showing up across knitwear, polos and long-sleeved tops, often worn underneath jackets or layered over shirts. They have the useful quality of making an otherwise straightforward outfit feel considered without requiring much styling — a fact that may explain why they keep turning up, season after season, on the people who seem to have got dressed without trying too hard.

The leather jacket is one of those pieces that never really leaves, but this season it feels particularly omnipresent. Less concerned with the perfect biker silhouette, street style is making a case for leather in all its forms: oversized bombers, boxy flight jackets, long coats and slightly battered vintage-looking pieces.

Burgundy, butter yellow, powder blue and various shades of green are appearing across matching fits. Trousers, knitwear, outerwear and accessories, creating outfits that feel uniform and cohesive but considerably more colorful than the usual all black everything approach to a singluar palette. Pick a color, then see how far you can take it.

Rather than being deployed purely for warmth or to display sport team affiliation, they've been becoming one of the more expressive parts of the outfit, with crocheted caps, berets and slightly eccentric shapes all making appearances on the domes of dapper dressers.

Fall outerwear doesn't have to mean retreating into navy, black and camel. Around the shows and on catwalks this season, coats and jackets are bringing some much-needed color back into the colder months, from tomato reds and cobalt blues to softer, more unexpected shades.

Just when we thought we'd finished resurrecting every good thing from the '90s, grunge is back. Although thankfully without requiring a full commitment to flannel and ripped jeans. The mood is looser thanks to battered leather, faded denim, oversized layers and clothes that look better for having a bit of life in them.