What Are We Wearing in 2026? Fashion Professors Break Down the Trends Defining the Year
MSR staff writer Damenica Ellis speaks with Howard University fashion professor Elka Marie Stevens and University of Minnesota professor Lucienne Kandler about the clothing trends defining 2026, from retro silhouettes and sustainability to elevated athleisure, the messy girl aesthetic and the growing push for individual expression.
Elka Marie Stevens, professor and Fashion Design Program coordinator at Howard University’s College of Fine Arts, and Lucienne Kandler, professor at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design, identified some of the clothing trends of 2026.
The circular nature of style
Fashion is famously cyclical. Some of the styles that have returned from past decades include bold graphic prints and mixing prints, according to Stevens, reminiscent of the late ’60s and early ’70s.
“Last year I was seeing a lot of retro ’80s with neon colors and leg warmers and oversized sweaters and oversized cardigans … pleated skirts, plaids, stuff like that, but we’re moving into a little bit different of dressing.”
She also highlighted “jellies,” a translucent plastic footwear, along with kitten heels, which are making a comeback. Though she was happy to see jellies leave the scene, Stevens acknowledged they are back and reinvented to be more elevated, pointing to jelly stilettos as an example.
Kandler is seeing interest in ’90s and early 2000s aesthetics. She described a popular new silhouette for women and female-identifying people that is boxy and loose fitting.
“The jeans aesthetic is primarily still a wide aesthetic or a barrel leg, versus for men it’s actually going the opposite way, which is really interesting,” she said. “I think we haven’t seen this in modern times for men. We’re seeing more of a boot cut or even a skinny leg or a flare.”
“This is one of the first times in modern history that men and women can find any and all styles of pants,” she said.
Sustainability
“We’re seeing sustainability as a trend and I’m hoping that it actually moves beyond a trend and actually just is more incorporated into our way of life on a regular basis,” Stevens said.
She defined clothing sustainability as an intentional effort to maintain ecological, political and economic systems to protect lifestyle and resources for future generations, including consumers repurposing items and being mindful of discarding them.
People are also making their own clothing, which Stevens finds especially exciting as someone who teaches fashion.
“I love the idea of people making clothing,” she said. “I think pre-industrial revolution, everything was made by hand. You did not have that luxury of just being able to run to a store… if you wanted something, you made it.”
Stevens has seen this firsthand on Howard’s campus, where students make unique pieces for occasions such as Homecoming, painting the Howard logo, crocheting and knitting paraphernalia centered around their school.
Athleisure and workwear
Elevated athleisure is in, Stevens said, and not in the traditional sense of performance wear for athletes.
“We have this athleisure that is becoming just part of our everyday wear. We’ve seen this developing post-COVID and through COVID.” Athleisure is now becoming more refined and is appearing on runways.
Workwear is another trend Stevens identified through social media, including cargo pants, garments with visible name badges and materials that mimic uniforms. She associates it with the current global climate.
“The world in which we live is very hostile,” she said. “I think that as our political environment changes and becomes more strict and it’s still as if our rights are being taken away, I think that may be the doorway to invite this utility style dressing.”
“Messy girl”
Kandler credits the “messy girl” trend to the rising popularity of Rama Duwaji, the first lady of New York City.
“This ‘art girl’ aesthetic is taking over,” Kandler said. “So anything that had to do with ‘clean girl’ aesthetic is out.”
Clean girl looks favor simple jewelry, sleek hair, basic clothing pieces and neutral colors. Messy girl, by contrast, embraces layering, thrifted patterns, statement pieces and mismatched textures.
How trends spread
Now, trends spread at the speed of light due to technological developments including the internet and social media.
“You have more than one group who is identifying trends,” Stevens said. “It used to be there were only seemingly one or two people who were setting the standard and we were waiting for that article to come out in Women’s Wear Daily to tell us what the trends were going to be.”
Kandler noticed the effects of this connectedness in her travels over the past year. Style, she said, looks pretty much the same all over the world, especially among college students. However, she noted some unique influences in Minnesota.
“We definitely have an influence with different cultures here with Somali culture and Hmong culture,” she said. “I think that plays a part in what people are gravitating towards in terms of style.”
Fashion forecast
Clothing cycles are moving rapidly, Kandler said, causing an overlap of trends and bursts of inspiration within subcategories.
“I think we might see more individualism becoming really important, especially as people move offline and more towards in person and analog, and we’re going to see more of people personalizing their clothing.”
She sees knitting, crocheting and hand tailoring holding high value as ways to show a personalized aesthetic.
Stevens, meanwhile, said she hopes the way clothing is designed, manufactured, distributed and consumed improves in the wake of the United Nations sustainability goals.
“We’re moving into a little bit different of dressing,” and by the sound of it, a more intentional one.
Damenica Ellis welcomes reader responses at dellis@spokesman-recorder.com.