SPRING / SUMMER 2025 TRENDS
LOWKEY EXPERIENCING STUFF
Over the last two seasons there has been an overwhelming sentiment that big house boys and your local tiktok types are pushing—fashion is sat. The newest “sleep to street” trend has blended the nuance between home comfort and an interdependent shift to nameless, high fashion. Think A$AP Rocky and Kendall Jenner using paparazzi photos for Bottega campaigns, Hunter Schafer and Harris Dickinson doing the bare minimum at Prada, and Kim Kardashian chair rotting for Balenciaga. I mean, we’ve gone so far as to make flip-flops chic this season. Men’s SS25 is similarly expertly remiss. All eyes have been on Jonathon Anderson and LOEWE’s disciplined impact across media. If he wasn’t on our movie screens, he was occupying our third brain cells with his newest exploration of the relationship between nostalgic home and contemporary society. This duality, albeit exaggerated as he does, signposts a multidisciplinary era of fashion that is so richly intelligent in navigating the zeitgeist while simultaneously possessing dadaistic humility. Silky, pillow-like textures, cashmere, structured blazers, and cartoonish home staples in key color Transcendent Pink—it’s no less luxurious than textbook luxury house offerings, yet they possess a grounded tone of luxury you can’t quantify or make tangible to what every other house is doing. She’s effortless, and she probably smells like grandma. This consistency of mature comfort JW Anderson has been producing is so important for a new era of brand identity that chooses to create a narrative on runway that can directly translate the modern human experience in a non-offensive way. No one wants that 9-5 lifestyle anymore, and having the foresight to grasp that future consumer’s bias in an organic way is a profound, Darwinistic ability.
MATCH POINT
For all those whose soundtrack of the summer is Challengers’ score, SS25 is safe for you. Rugby, (real) football, baseball, and tennis’ newest run on fashion have grasped a consistent dynamic that has served as a foil to the wave of lax streetwear. Sportswear, streetwear— what’s the difference anymore? The modern man, who has zero game and a very big heart, is versatile on his feet. He elevates every day blokecore into a licensed aesthetic. Matching point for point, brands like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Dunhill are capitalizing on a sports-minded attitude with a genteel twist. This has become the new face of sports: traditional, collegiate energy seen in urbane craftsmanship. This has cultivated in v-necks galore, intricate stitching patterns on utility shapes, and refinement of prep codes, like the baseball cap or sports jersey. London’s very own marquee, Martine Rose, is the masterclass in channeling retro coding of rich color palettes on timeless sport silhouettes, such as the bomber and polo shirt. Look to newfound tunnel culture within professional sports. Athletes themselves are stepping out. Fashion is manipulating this landscape to bend traditional masculinity into a wholesale product across the entire ideological journey of an athlete. This has scored a modern lifestyle on a canvas of the Euros, Copa, Olympics, and a full-swing tennis fetish. It’s smart comfort and sophisticated playfulness. SS25 is winning the game, and I don’t know who needs to hear it, but the girl in the Brazil crop top, Adidas shorts, and knee-high boots is not good for you.
BIG ADVOCATE FOR MEN WEARING SHORTER SHORTS
If your DM inbox wasn’t filled with Paul Mescal at Gucci SS25, I’m convinced no one cares about your mental health. We are the apex of the inseams war in society, as the margin between mature male and little slut is less defined by the minute. Jeremy Allen White’s arms are getting bigger, Donald Glovers calves have replaced his music career, and Chris Pine is being a downright freak. We can’t get enough. Men’s fashion is dropping trou left and right, a healthy nod to tender male confidence and traditional, nostalgic tailoring. Fendi, Dsquared2, and Prada all dexterously interweaved a refined, shorter hemline to structured utility shapes. Following suit, LOEWE and Raf Simons made a case for male midriff that no one is complaining about. There’s a niche subset of coding men’s fashion can address that makes a look feel more sophisticated. A short hemline is an avenue that negates sloppiness in place of unspoken assurance. I trust a man in a little short-short. Bring it on, sluts!
SAY IT WITH YOUR CHEST
Imagine hiding behind your keyboard, but it’s IRL, and it’s actually on your shirt because it’s SS25. Now imagine that’s caught on film by Rihana’s lawless iPhone filming form. Sloganization of fashion may feel too Facebook Mom in a political news cycle that gets more neurotic each day, but its wave makes sense for SS25. This is mostly in part to A$AP Rocky's performative debut AWGE fashion show, which imprinted phrases “”DON’T BE DUMB,” AMERICAN SABOTAGE," "POLITICAL SATIRE," and "NYPD" on t-shirts, candidly alluding to political messaging. The slogan tee is historically the origin of troublemaking, and that’s precisely what it’s here to do in SS25: double down. In tandem, JW Anderson begged for “REAL SLEEP,” and Dior Men only gives “Dior for my real friends.” MSGM wants you to know they’re “NOT A TOURIST: I LIVE HERE." Cross-media, Zendaya’s “I TOLD YA,” off-duty actress Kaia Gerber’s intellectualized crop tops, and Rihanna retiring via Conner Ives have kept the social stream busy. Brat even had its own slime green wall; f*ck the t-shirt. SS25 is playful, but each signage has posed as a tangible alignment with a brand's DNA. This solidifies house codes and offers a sense of insider intellectualism to each consumer—a masterful play at creating a cult following and exclusivity. What’s next? We will probably have to read the next shirt on Deux Moi to find out.
LEGENDS NEVER DIE
It would be criminal not to pay cultural homage to Dries Van Noten’s final runway show, a bittersweet, nostalgic coding and end of a legacy era. Set before a capital-f fashion dense crowd, Dries’ SS25 felt like a congratulatory celebration instead of a somber goodbye. An impactful retrospect of Dries’ work glided down a silver leaf runway, a nod to his 2006 catwalk and an offering to the audience to reflect on what Dries' eponymous label has accomplished over nearly 40 years. Signature, loose-tailored clothing on a “continuum of connection” bore respect to the expert craft classicism, tangible emotion, and sharp innovation Dries has resurrected and married together in his career. To achieve that imitability is rare. Fear not, though. He'll still be around—something everyone is grateful for.
MY PARENTS’ HOUSE ON NANTUCKET
Americana, prep-privilege, “Naut”y boys! We’re back to classic, coastal elite wealth. The established rapport of prep in men’s fashion is another victim to a wave of sophistication, but one whose essence in elegance feels emotionally correct. Undeniably, nautical prep dominated SS25 with prototype waspiness: sailor-inspired tops, crisp white trousers, finely tailored blazers, and key color Cobalt Blue anchors nonetheless. Modern Maritime was seen across Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, Sacai, and MSGM in volume-bending polo-paradigms that agree yachting is a pastime. Waves of elegance upended atypical bucket hats, loafers, and fisherman bags with charming raffia and stripes in a contemporary flair. Auralee in particular has been cementing itself as a strong “I’m chill, but obviously too expensive for you” competitor, using the ability to hit a sweet spot between prep trends and luxe sensitivity. If it’s not a cunningly tailored check, it’s gingham pajamas and a knit cable sweater. This organic edge on craftsmanship has grasped the new cult niche, or seemingly the nouveau riche, across socials and has placed Auralee with the likes of Proenza and Our Legacy. Posh is undoubtedly a consistent riser, delegating a rich romance with heritage as the tapestry of the season. That being said, I need a product of multi-generational wealth, JFK Jr.-presenting, big nose boy in a nautical stripe to talk to me. I’d be the first one to truly listen.
NEON ERGONOMICS
Utility’s narrative over the past few seasons has been a lively conversation, transcending the gorp man into a quintessential figurehead of modern masculinity through the guiding principles of expert Japanese tailoring and technical fabrics. Color and shape refinement has been key in composing the versatility of the utility man, a skill cult staples such as Arc’teryx and Salomon have been able to solidify into the social conversation. Utility has been on a journey— in SS22 it was gaining prominence on the heels of a strong FW21 catwalk. Brands like A-COLD-WALL and Reese Cooper served as the cementation of it-boy gorp. In FW22 and SS23, we saw that moody, balaclava-driven male soften into a refined muse of nature who’s more boyish and playful. This is thanks to charm-forward brands LOEWE and Kenzo. SS24 saw the maturation of that childlike innocence, merging the sartorial with functional intuition. This was demonstrated by sharp powerhouses Fendi and Armani. Now, the SS25 explorer is tapping back into a shock jock attitude by adding an amuse-bouche of neon color onto a perfected, crisp silhouette. It's houses like Bluemarble, Prada, and MSGM that craftfully placed pops of synthetic key colors Sunset Coral and Aquatic Awe to transcend pragmatic structure. In line, Martine Rose and Kiko Kostadinov held space for a slime green, a color that’s been the anthem of brat summer, in lax shapes built strategically for lifestyle. This use of neon color is used in part of a two-way system: communicate emotion and prioritize pleasure. The modern evolution of wellness culture adheres to this, both in physical and virtual world applications. The use of neon in a very physical, applicative form on the SS25 runway resonates with this dogma. It feels raw, almost lab-grown, and offers a consumer tangible color efficacy and a visual of conscious hedonism. Pleasure can be practical, especially in a world that requires small bites of daily escapism. New aura points for the utility male.