Fashion Snoops: Consumers Seek Seek Tranquility from Men’s Fashion

Men’s wear is loosening up.

Ahead of Project Las Vegas, taking place Aug. 7-9, Michael Fisher, Fashion Snoops’ vice president and creative director of men’s wear, presented a Spring/Summer 2024 men’s forecast two years in the making. Inspired by shifts in lifestyles, new gender narratives and emerging post-pandemic ideas, Fisher described four themes that are shaping the future of men’s fashion.

Here’s a closer look at the themes and their cultural drivers.

Consumers are enlightened and driven by a desire to find meaning in life. “Spirituality has been increasing especially with millennials and Gen Z. We are finding that consumers are continually seeking guidance from spiritual teachers and healers,” Fisher said. There’s also a growing commitment to honor overlooked heritages. “[Consumers] want to cultivate more authentic cultural representation in the brands that they support and the apparel and accessories that they wear,” he said.

Revenge travel—a term for the post-pandemic boom in international travel—is helping to satiate these desires. Fisher said consumers crave connection with their surroundings and many are going to the “global South” like Latin America and the Caribbean to do so. “Therefore, we expect [these regions] to be catalysts for inspiration for collections going forward,” he said.

These cultural trends inspire Divine, a theme that celebrates “mastering time-honored traditions” and enjoying natural indulgences. The theme’s color palette, Fisher said, is a “heavenly expression” of “immaculate neutrals” that provide “quiet sanctuary” in a chaotic world. Drenched shades of blue nod to traditional practices like indigo dyeing, while sultry earthen shades ground looks.

Key items include lightweight patchwork outerwear, overdyed seersucker tops and jackets, tailored anoraks and deconstructed blazers. Holiday shorts, lounge sets inspired by pajama silhouettes and retro cabana shirts help casualize the trend. “It’s a very chill, new old-soul vibe more than anything else,” Fisher said.

Patterns amplify that laidback feeling with soft mid-century interpretations of simple geometrics, abstract florals, patchwork and needlepoint prints.

The rollback on women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights has sparked conversations surrounding identity politics. It has also kindled a level of self-expression through fashion that pushes back on repression. “You’re going see this huge expression of sexuality, specifically for the men’s consumer,” Fisher said. This desire to show creative displays of gender is coupled with an even greater urge to escape the harsh realities of the world in Fashion Snoops’ second theme, Curiosity.

Fisher said people are being drawn to surreal expressions that allow them to “go far above the burdens of their everyday life” and embrace fun and whimsy. Curiosity calls for imagination to be integrated into reality, including fashion.

Color-blocked suiting, oversized knits and work shirts are key for the contemporary men’s market. Child-like sweaters, kaleidoscope print shirts, retro denim trousers with crisp pleats and creases, and kilted suits work for the young men’s market.

Quirky colors spanning pleasing pastels to energizing pops of saffron and sumo orange are a must for the theme’s warped checks and oversized polka-dot prints.

The days of celebrating boss babes, side hustles and full schedules are over. In addition to having more fun, consumers seek to soften their lives by slowing down, prioritizing healthcare and wellness, and connecting with nature. “There’s a huge intentional focus being placed on moments of joy and ease, as opposed to glorifying hardship,” Fisher said.

These efforts to have more meaningful experiences are resulting in more fluid fashion that allows consumers to be their authentic selves. In Fluidity, consumers are released from the confines of tradition, translating into fashion that is not only light and weightless but also nourishing, Fisher said.

Fluidity’s lively and spirted palette of “sun soaked prism-inspired colors” is complemented by aquatic blues. The hues, he added, “personify what sunlight and breezes would be if they were colors.”

Boxy polo and rugby shirts in unexpected fabrics like French terry, luxurious interpretations of lounge sets and lightweight utility tops are on track for the contemporary market. Bleached stained railroad-striped denim shorts and Trucker jackets, crinkled paper-like knits and second-skin base layers are key for the young men’s market.

Foggy geometric and check patterns, murky dip dyes and watery stripes offer a visual depiction of fluidity.

Consumers are experiencing an “information revolution” spurred by greenwashing and fake news. “That means consumers are demanding higher accuracy and clarity in language of their media and that translates to the way that brands and retailers speak to consumers as well,” Fisher said.

Fashion Snoops’ fourth theme, Evolve, represents how this information overload is driving consumers to seek products that ground them. “They want to be tempered to something with a human touch,” he added. “Consumers want to avoid future shock, which is a term coined to describe the feeling of disorientation that comes with rapid change in such a short period of time.”

Evolve’s color palette can be viewed through both a futuristic and a nostalgic lens. Fisher said there is a mix of nature-inspired hues and optimistic brights such as teal and tomato red. Patterns and graphics have a retro-futuristic approach like glitchy windowpanes and ’60s-inspired geometric shapes.

Oversized bomber jackets, twisted knits, tissue-weight tailored pieces and kimono suits are among the key items for the contemporary market. Young men’s is driven by softened workwear, oversized funnelneck tops, denim shirts and ecru jeans with laser-printed motifs.

“We want to attempt to reinterpret tradition in a way that feels comfortable, soulful and infused with just the necessary bits of novelty,” Fisher said.

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